Home For The Weekend

GREAT MOVIES: Hans Christian Schmid's Home For The Weekend (Germany, 2012) - A credible, professionally executed chamber piece about a haute bourgeois German family splintering under the strain of the mother's long-term mental illness, "Home for the Weekend" consistently absorbs even if it doesn't rewrite any rule books. Pic reps a solid return to the form that distinguished "Requiem," helmer Hans-Christian Schmid and screenwriter Bernd Lange's first impressive collaboration, and an improvement on their not-so-hot second effort, "Storm." Ensemble's strong perfs as sympathetic but flawed folk and a well-structured script make this appealing, feel-sad viewing for upscale auds at home and even offshore in select niches. 2012BERic, 2012MONwg. RATING: 9