4/5
Starring Mark Wahlberg and Rose Bryne, ‘Instant Family’ appears from the trailer to be a run of the mill family comedy about hapless parents adopting young kids. However, unlike its peers in the genre, the film is genuinely moving, hits homes with an important message and has plenty of laughs along the way.
‘Instant Family’ is based upon a true story of Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne) who are a successful married couple who come around to idea of fostering kids after realising there’s something missing in their life. After attending Foster parent teaching classes with a group of similarly unfit parents, the couple end up taking a shine to teenager Lizzie, played by Isabela Moner. However unknown to them at the time Lizzie comes with 2 younger siblings, the uncontrollable little sister Lita (Julianna Gamiz) and the anxious and daft brother Juan (Gustavo Quiroz). As Pete and Ellie adjust to parenting with a mix of success and failure they start to win over the younger kids and life as parents becomes routine. That is until the children’s biological mother is released from prison and starts to come back into their life which sparks friction between the parents and Lizzie.
I think its fair to say I went into this film thinking I knew exactly how it would go, how the story would play out and where the gags would come from. What was unexpected however, was how heartfelt and mature the film is, especially in the final third. The underlying message about the importance and need for more foster parents in the US is not subtle but through the navigation of the films story, even in the more cliched moments, the message does have great impact. ‘Instant Family’ manages to evolve from quite a simple plot set up into a movie more about family and acceptance and the handling of the delicate moments was done brilliantly. It was unsurprising therefore to find out afterwards that many of the situations were based upon Director Sean Anders’ personnel experiences in the foster care system.
Importantly the film is also funny and for once not ruined entirely by the trailers. The pair of foster teachers played by Octavia Spencer and Tig Notaro are excellent and provide many of the laugh out loud moments. Wahlberg and Byrne supply their usual charm and ease to the film including plenty of slapstick moments akin to their previous films ‘Daddy’s Home’ and ‘Bad Neighbours’ respectively.
Overall the film delivers and whilst not drastically necessary to rush to the cinema’s I would recommend a watch as soon as it hits the DVD/streaming market.
Hughes Reviews 