From Sean Anders, the writer and director of Daddy's Home, Daddy's Home 2 and writer of We're the Millers comes a new film about a different type of dysfunctional family. Instant Family is a truly special family comedy centered around the foster care system and adopting children. Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne star as Pete and Ellie, a couple who wish they could raise kids, but without the struggles of infancy. Through the foster system, they end up adopting a trio of siblings that cause more trouble fitting in than they had expected. This film is a very heartwarming comedy about raising three kids that shines light on not just the adoption system but adjusting into becoming a loving family.
The story and relationships developed throughout this film make it truly one-of-a-kind. There have been plenty of movies about the struggles of raising kids and adjusting to being a family, but none quite like this one. After going through the initial training and a humorous encounter with one of the dreaded teenage foster kids, Pete and Ellie decide on adopting Lizzy (Isabela Moner), Juan (Gustavo Quiroz), and Lita (Julianna Gamiz), three siblings who come from a drug-addicted mother. This film functions differently than others of the genre because of its instantaneous introduction of children. As mentioned in the title, the kids have to instantly bond with Pete and Ellie instead of being raised since birth. When they first begin living together as a family, it is almost as if they are simply houseguests who will be staying for a while. Once they learn throughout the movie, through their hilarious trials and saddening tribulations, to get along with each other, the love can be plentifully seen. The character developments between the parents and kids, especially between Pete and Lizzy, were amazing to see as they unfolded. There was an abundance of heartfelt moments throughout the story that validated Pete and Ellie as parents and their pure joy in this life-changing experience was so delightful.
Heartfelt and comedic true stories that are told well are hard to come by but this film manages it excellently. Instant Family is the true story of writer and director Sean Anders and his wife's journey to adopting three kids. He includes an initial disclaimer at the beginning of his true experience of adopting and mentions local adoption centers in the credits. Adoption and the foster care system have never been given much of a priority in films, but I hope that this one will bring the normalization of these families into fruition. Anders also includes plenty of humor and lightheartedness throughout the story to balance out the dark, harsh realities that they faced. Some smaller, more comedic roles are occupied by Octavia Spencer, Tig Notaro, Margo Martindale, Joan Cusack, and Iliza Shlesinger and all of them are portrayed very lightheartedly and witty. The humor in this movie is obviously handled very well, as it balances out the dark parts of the story too. The re-introduction of the siblings' mother, the handling of the family by the court system, and the creepy school janitor make for some of the most intriguing parts of this movie. Since Pete and Ellie had not had previous experience with kids, it was so interesting to see how they handled their new situations.
The only critiques I have of this film are its generic plot and the authenticity of the foster care scenes. This movie follows the same formula for many family comedies, as the audience is introduced to the parents and their wacky lives, the kids get into trouble, and they all end up happy together. While this has been proven to work for this genre of film, I would have liked to have seen a slightly different take on it, since Pete and Ellie have a slightly different take on children. The foster system scenes in the expository parts of the movie played out very well, but the ease of adopting these children seemed strange. I personally have a few friends from my high school who were orphans and spent their entire childhoods in the system and from what I have heard from them, it is not nearly as simple as this movie described. However, this is a true story, and if Anders and his wife did not have any of those troubles, then that is amazing! It only felt a bit simplified at times.
Instant Family is one of the sweetest and most pure family films I have ever seen. This movie teaches us that despite not being raised by blood, anyone can be a part of a family if enough love and care are put in. While not many of the issues surrounding today's foster care system were addressed, I still found this true story of Anders' adopted family to be one of the best feel-good films of the year.
My interview with director Sean Anders for Silver Screen Beat:
How did the dynamic of creating a movie inspired by your own life work?
Well, it's not inspired by my family and my experience but also the experiences of a lot of other families that I've met along the way, so I never felt like Mark Wahlberg was playing me and I never felt like this was my life on the screen and that made it easier. We're telling a fictional story that was inspired by my life.
But on the other hand, virtually every emotion that they go through along the way, as well as several specific situations, were taken directly from my life. It was very emotional and kind of embarrassing because I would be behind the monitors just completely in tears.
Could you talk a little about the scene near the beginning of the film when we see the faces and the ages of the kids up for adoption on the screen?
That's a very real moment because my story started the exact same way the family's does in the movie. I made the joke that Mark Wahlberg makes in the movie and my wife thought it was kind of interesting and then we wound up looking at a website and you see the real faces of real kids. In that scene, when you see those pictures, those are pictures of real kids that were adopted from foster care, including my own.
How much of Pete and Ellie's struggles relate to you and your wife's experiences as a couple going through the process of adopting?
Almost all of it! Like I said before, there's that transitional time that's really hard and it can turn you against each other and it can just wear your patience thin and it makes you really question the choices that you've made. But then, once it starts to change and once the family starts to really fall in love with one another, it all becomes worth it. That stuff is all very real.
What is it about family that interests you so much as a filmmaker?
It's just the most basic thing in the world. My writing partner John Morris and I both have families - he has two kids, I have three kids - and being dads is just such a huge part of our lives. I also think my own family that I come from has always influenced me, even going back to the Adam Sandler movie That's My Boy that I did. When we got involved with that, the thing that appealed to me was the father-son story, which is something that I really wanted to do. There's some element of family in almost everything that we do and there probably always will be.
Do you plan on tackling any other genres of film in the near future?
We're producing a horror movie right now that we're hoping is going to start production soon. We've also been working on a thriller that is almost like one of those 90s thrillers and it's something that we've been talking about for a while and I've been wanting to do a big adventure movie for a long time. We're looking to branch out into a lot of different areas.
How do you think your experiences as a comedic filmmaker will influence your work on something like a thriller?
I think that there will be an element of humor to everything that I will ever probably do. There's an element of humor in every aspect of my life. It's interesting because we've done a lot of big, physical comedy - a lot of broad, crazy things - and I think a lot of people tend to write that stuff off as just silliness or whatever. But it's actually really fun to construct a big, physical comedic set piece and I think of it as kind of like a fight scene from a kung-fu movie because it has to have a premise and it has to build from a place and it has to lead to some kind of a punchline and it usually has a twist in it and you're incorporating visual effects and special effects. Putting all of that stuff together is really fun. I believe that doing some more serious action or adventure movies would incorporate a lot of the same building blocks.
Editor's Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
My Rating: ★★★½
My interview with director Sean Anders for Silver Screen Beat:
How did the dynamic of creating a movie inspired by your own life work?
Well, it's not inspired by my family and my experience but also the experiences of a lot of other families that I've met along the way, so I never felt like Mark Wahlberg was playing me and I never felt like this was my life on the screen and that made it easier. We're telling a fictional story that was inspired by my life.
But on the other hand, virtually every emotion that they go through along the way, as well as several specific situations, were taken directly from my life. It was very emotional and kind of embarrassing because I would be behind the monitors just completely in tears.
Could you talk a little about the scene near the beginning of the film when we see the faces and the ages of the kids up for adoption on the screen?
That's a very real moment because my story started the exact same way the family's does in the movie. I made the joke that Mark Wahlberg makes in the movie and my wife thought it was kind of interesting and then we wound up looking at a website and you see the real faces of real kids. In that scene, when you see those pictures, those are pictures of real kids that were adopted from foster care, including my own.
How much of Pete and Ellie's struggles relate to you and your wife's experiences as a couple going through the process of adopting?
Almost all of it! Like I said before, there's that transitional time that's really hard and it can turn you against each other and it can just wear your patience thin and it makes you really question the choices that you've made. But then, once it starts to change and once the family starts to really fall in love with one another, it all becomes worth it. That stuff is all very real.
What is it about family that interests you so much as a filmmaker?
It's just the most basic thing in the world. My writing partner John Morris and I both have families - he has two kids, I have three kids - and being dads is just such a huge part of our lives. I also think my own family that I come from has always influenced me, even going back to the Adam Sandler movie That's My Boy that I did. When we got involved with that, the thing that appealed to me was the father-son story, which is something that I really wanted to do. There's some element of family in almost everything that we do and there probably always will be.
Do you plan on tackling any other genres of film in the near future?
We're producing a horror movie right now that we're hoping is going to start production soon. We've also been working on a thriller that is almost like one of those 90s thrillers and it's something that we've been talking about for a while and I've been wanting to do a big adventure movie for a long time. We're looking to branch out into a lot of different areas.
How do you think your experiences as a comedic filmmaker will influence your work on something like a thriller?
I think that there will be an element of humor to everything that I will ever probably do. There's an element of humor in every aspect of my life. It's interesting because we've done a lot of big, physical comedy - a lot of broad, crazy things - and I think a lot of people tend to write that stuff off as just silliness or whatever. But it's actually really fun to construct a big, physical comedic set piece and I think of it as kind of like a fight scene from a kung-fu movie because it has to have a premise and it has to build from a place and it has to lead to some kind of a punchline and it usually has a twist in it and you're incorporating visual effects and special effects. Putting all of that stuff together is really fun. I believe that doing some more serious action or adventure movies would incorporate a lot of the same building blocks.
Editor's Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
My Rating: ★★★½
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