Director Sean Anders brings us Instant Family starring Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne. Based on a true story Instant Family revolves around Pete (Wahlberg) and Ellie (Byrne) who live normal lives.
Fed up of the routine the pair think of having children but decide to foster in the hopes of adopting.
They are matched with a girl called Lizzie (Isabela Moner) who happens to come with two younger siblings and what follows is absolute chaos.
Instant Family is marketed as a comedy but throughout the movie the film never presented real laugh out moments in abundance.
You get the odd joke here and there but most fall short of the mark as the film takes a more serious look into foster care, family strains and psychological / emotional affects the foster care system has on children.
In that regard Instant Family is a rather emotional journey rather than a comedic one. I did feel Rose Byrne’s character was annoyingly forced as though she was trying too hard in this particular role.
Almost forcing many of her lines / emotions. Wahlberg steals the show out of the two leading roles but the main star of the show was Isabela Moner who plays Lizzy.
Lizzy is a sharp-tongued teenager struggling with the fact her real mum abandoned her and her siblings and turned to drugs.
Tig Notaro and Octavia Spencer play the foster care workers who lend a sympathetic and more comedic side to proceedings.
Tig plays the more uptight serious role so her comedy is naturally very dry and Octavia is the more bubbly and open of the pair so her jokes hit home much harder and with purpose.
I felt as thou many characters were sorely underwritten in this particular feature with Moner’s character taking centre stage as the most fleshed out of the bunch.
Whilst Instant Family is a good watch I feel as thou it falls way short of the mark as it struggles to find a balance between comedy and serious tones.
Summary
It’s a feel-good family movie that has a mild charm but it doesn’t really paint the full picture that I’m sure the writer was originally intending.
