Review: Instant Family

Posted on 17 January, 2019

Watch the trailer (below) – everything you need to know is there. And there is a dog. 

However, what I didn’t know was that this film has something so rare in this sort of formulaic family fare – actual heart.

Guileless Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and uptight Ellie (Rose Byrne) captured me immediately with his first dad jokes and her eager clumsiness. I really wanted them to succeed. The three children do not give them an easy journey – sassy (of course she is) Lizzie, screaming Lita and crying Juan are much more than their stereotypes would suggest.

There is drama and laughs and lots of love – and as many defeats as there are triumphs. The story of an adopted girl, now an adult, adds weight to the story that elevates the plot. However, a light comedy touch to the scene also eases the drama before it can become pathos.

Writer and Director Sean Anders (Daddy’s Home) was able to give this story more veracity than his usual comedies because it is actually based on his own family of three adopted children. His style of humour, where adults are awkward and socially inept, works well for this. Especially in the foster support group scenes. The dynamic between Octavia Spencer and Tig Notaro as the social workers, Karen and Sharon, is wonderful. They have great comedic timing but never lose sight of the serious message at the heart of the film.

Iliza Shlesinger cameos as a single woman looking to adopt a junior athlete and portrays ‘wound tighter than her ponytail’ really well. If you don’t know who she is go directly to Netflix and watch either of her stand up shows (latest one is called ‘Elder Millennial’). She makes me laugh so hard I can’t breathe. Joan Cusack also cameos and she is, as ever, a delight.

You should know that I went to this movie expecting a mindless couple of hours of obvious jokes and a derivative story. I certainly got lots of laughs but I also got an attack of the warm-and-fuzzies. It’s about foster kids so that was to be expected, I guess.

Then I was unsettled and saddened by a brief but wonderful moment from Margo Martindale, playing Grandma Sandy, where she demonstrates how that early lack of love is carried throughout your life. That was when the sniffles started and the dampness continued through the end credits, which played over photos of real foster families. Lots and lots of them.

I was undone.

Roslyn saw this film as a guest of Limelight Cinemas Tuggeranong.