A quiet movie that did next to nothing on its theatrical release in terms of box office draw, The Sisters, upon retrospect, was unjustly dismissed. Though the film isn't a modern classic it does prove to be a very well constructed story of family politics and those skeletons that we all hide in our closets, told through some genuinely good acting and strong, stable direction.

Based on Anton Chekhov's The Three Sisters, Arthur Siedelman's movie tells the story of the three female Prior family siblings and the differences that kinda-sorta bring them together. They've all gotten together along with a few other family members to celebrate the Irene (Erika Christensen of Traffic), the youngest of the three, who has just had her birthday. The two older sisters, Olga (Mary Stuart Masterson of Fried Green Tomatoes) and Marcia (Maria Bello of A History Of Violence) show up at the party and everyone seems to more or less get along at first, talking and gossiping and catching up with one another, even their brother Andrew (Alessandro Nivola of Jurassic Park III) who is still somewhat bothered by the loss of their father a while back is there.

Eventually, as is apt to happen at family gatherings (something that some of us know only all too well), things start to get a little dicey. As characters are introduced, be they fiancés, boyfriends, co-workers or school friends, tensions seem to rise and soon the sisters are spilling dark secrets about each other that no one really should be making public.

Taking place almost entirely in one area of the house, this one, in the wrong hands, could have been a boring, stagy mess. Seeing as it was based on a play, it would make sense for it to play out less as a movie and more as a stage production but thankfully, mainly due to the quality of the performances here, The Sisters works. Not personally being a fan of family based dramatic films (they tend to usually be far too sacrine for their own good), this reviewer approached the film with pretty low expectations, which were definitely surpassed by the half hour mark. It does take a little while for the sufficient amount of background information to come through so that we understand enough about what makes these women tick to 'get it' but once that obligatory material is out of the way the story gets to stretch out a little bit and we're hit with some interesting issues.

Maria Bello gives a compelling performance, she's sexy and smart and completely believable in her slightly bitchy role. Masterson is up there with her, the oldest of the three women and possibly the wisest. The biggest surprise, however, comes from Christensen who is quite excellent here, handling the more humorous material just as well as the more dramatic content.

The movie isn't perfect – Chris O'Donnell is pretty dull in his part as David Turzin which is unfortunately integral to the way that this is all wrapped up – and there are some pacing problems evident during the first twenty minutes or so but if you stick with the movie you just might come away pleasantly surprised. It's a little darker than you might expect from the soap opera-esque cover art and the cast listing but that's not a bad thing. The humor is sharp and sometimes even a little on the nasty side, but again, it fits well. In the end, it's a simple movie but a well made one that is worth a look.