“Instant Family” is one such film written and directed by Sean Anders (“We’re The Millers”). On the surface, the film looks like a slapstick silly comedy revolving around the topic of adoption. This could be nothing further from the truth. While it is certainly funny, at the heart of the film is what adoption means as three children, all living in foster care, are once again placed in a home. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne as the couple who think they are prepared to adopt these children including one teen, find that parenting children with unfamiliar baggage is more difficult and fulfilling than they expected. Based on the life of Anders’ own family, the film addresses the issues that kids and prospective parents go through, the challenges, and what it means to be a family. Filled with laughter and tears, Anders hits all the right chords and pulls gently and poignantly at your heartstrings. (Opening Nov. 16. Interview with Anders available at www.reelhonestreviews.com and @www.wcia.com)
Continuing along the family theme, is the heartbreaking film “Ben Is Back” written and directed by Peter Hedges (“Dan In Real Life”) and starring Lucas Hedges and Julia Roberts. It’s Christmas Eve day and quite unexpectedly Ben (Hedges) shows up. The uneasy happiness seen in Holly’s (Roberts) eyes is alarmingly complicated. We soon learn that Ben is an addict who wants nothing more than to spend Christmas with his family, but there’s much more to this than meets the eye. Over the next 24 hours, the family encounters the ghosts that Ben created as they are unwittingly placed in harm’s way. Holly must find an inner strength to deal with her son’s lies and struggles, catapulting her into making life and death choices as we helplessly watch Ben make his as well. It’s an engrossingly emotional film told from a mother’s perspective as we see how addiction attempts to eviscerate the love of family. (Opening Dec. 7. Interview with Peter Hedges available at www.reelhonestreviews.com)
INSTANT FAMILY
BEN IS BACK
Thankfully, not everyone must deal with this situation, but there are other scenarios such as the situation in Barry Jenkins’ (“Moonlight”) new film, “If Beale Street Could Talk” that allow us to understand another’s plight while thanking our lucky stars we’ve not experienced what this Harlem couple has. Based on the novel by James Baldwin, a young Black couple, Alonzo ‘Fonny’ Hunt (Stephan James) and Tish Rivers (KiKi Layne), in 1970‘s Harlem, who are expecting a child, find themselves embroiled in a legal battle as Fonny is wrongfully accused of a sexual assault. It’s a love story like no other as Tish, a 19 year-old, attempts to prove her fiancé's innocence. Jenkins once again proves his talent as a director as he elicits powerfully nuanced performances that will stay with you and perhaps give you the ability to see life through a different lens. (Opens Nov. 30)
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Family has many forms and definitions, but in Kirokazu Koreeda’s (“After the Storm”) newest film, “Shoplifters,” the definition of this word begins to push the outer edges, adding yet another element to the construct. As a family of thieves take in a youngster they find abandoned on the street, their initial good-hearted intentions take a detour. The moralistic conundrums create a conflicting story of love and understanding, punctuating the need for everyone to have a sense of family and belonging. Koreeda is a master at fostering unusual family dynamics that allow you to walk in another’s shoes and this newest endeavor exemplifies his talent.
SHOPLIFTERS