51 Birch Street is a documentary that slowly develops its main themes, meaning that it has a wonderful second half in which filmmaker/subject Doug Block achieves emotional closure—but a first half that will make viewers say, “So what?” The plot of sorts involves the fact that after the death of Block’s mother, he was surprised by his father’s rather hasty marriage to a longtime friend and even more surprised by the discovery of a hefty cache of his mother’s diaries, which spelled out how miserable she was in her marriage. At its best, the film taps into emotions all of us feel about our parents and the secrets that seem to surround them. But while Block works his way around to his points, Birch sometimes has the air of a glorified home movie.

Shelf Talk: The film was quite well-reviewed during its theatrical run and has the kind of straightforward subject that can lure in viewers who are ordinarily wary of documentaries. Birch also will benefit from recent airings on Cinemax.