Instant Family

The trailers for Instant Family made it look like the movie was going to be a goofy and heartwarming look at the serious issue of adopting children.  And in many ways, it is.  But it's also not afraid to look at some of the harder aspects of the situation, while avoiding massive tonal shifts.  Yes, the movie can resemble a sitcom at times, but it's also smart enough to avoid some obvious pitfalls.  I think the highest praise I can give the film is that I walked out smiling, and genuinely feeling good.

The film is inspired by the experiences that co-writer and director Sean Anders (who is better known for raunchy comedy fare like We're the Millers and Hot Tub Time Machine) had when his wife and him adopted three children some seven years ago.  He brings a lot of obvious personal experience about what it can be like to bring children into your home who already have fully-formed personalities, and come from troubled backgrounds.  I wouldn't exactly call this an honest or hard-hitting movie, but it has little moments of realism mixed in with the scenes that are clearly sentimental.  Even the sentimental stuff didn't bother me that much, thanks to a game cast headed by Mark Wahlberg (giving one of his better comic performances in a while) and the always likable Rose Byrne.  There's a lot here that might be conventional, but it has plenty of genuine warmth, humor and humanity to make it work.

Pete (Wahlberg) and Ellie (Byrne) are a married couple who buy homes that they renovate and flip for a living, and have more or less come to grips with the fact that they will never have children of their own.  Then Ellie becomes curious about adopting, and starts checking out websites about adoptable children in the area.  Pete resists the idea at first, but when he happens to glance at the photos on one of the websites his wife has visited, he can't help but be intrigued by the idea.  The scenes at the adoption agency, where the couple must go through a process to get approval for being foster parents, are some of the best in the film, as we are introduced to the various other parent hopefuls (who run a wide range of funny yet honest personalities), and the two women who run the place, played by Octavia Spencer and Tig Notaro, who make a great comic team together whenever they're on camera. 

Through it all, Pete and Ellie remain optimistic, and it is this hopeless optimism that leads to their decision to adopt not just one, but three children.  They first meet Lizzie (Isabela Moner from Sicario: Day of the Soldado), a 16-year-old who seems to have things figured out but is secretly troubled, at an adoption fair.  After they express interest in her, they learn that she has two younger siblings that they will have to take on as well.  These are the overly sensitive Juan (Gustavo Quiroz), who has a habit of rolling himself almost into a ball and sobbing whenever something goes wrong, and the adorable but brash Lita (Julianna Gamiz), who has her own unique food interests and has a hard time adapting to the food at her new home.  The film naturally covers how Pete and Ellie stumble and try to learn from mistakes during the early weeks and months, and how they all ultimately come through as a family.  There's a medical emergency at one point, a lot of moments where the kids act out rashly or violently, and a music montage or two that shows the family bonding.

Instant Family manages to simultaneously both be the movie you expect to be, and be better than expected.  The movie is filled with goofy side characters, like the two different grandmas (played by Julie Hagerty and Margo Martindale) who like to spoil the kids, but it helps that the screenplay by Anders and John Morris actually does give them some funny lines.  There are the scenes where Pete and Ellie's lives are turned upside down by the presence of the children in their homes, but they are not played too broadly, and always have a sense of realism to them.  When the kids act out or misbehave, sometimes there is no resolution, and the parents wonder if they are cut out for this.  When Lizzie rejects a simple gift that Ellie gives her, it is not out of the spite that we expect, as we later learn.  These moments speak of experience.  That's not to say there are no bumps in the road along the way.  The film's climactic emotional moment is somewhat marred by the appearance of Joan Cusack as a previously unseen nosy neighbor, who suddenly shows up to offer a comedic commentary on what's going on that seems a bit forced.

But any small stumbles the movie may take are smoothed out by the cast, who are great here.  Wahlberg is appealing as a dad who has to learn how to take charge, and seems quite confused by modern day kids at times.  And Byrne's Ellie is very funny as an eager mom who dives in head first, learns the hard way that parenthood is not what she expected, and learns to adapt.  And when the movie's tone shifts to the dramatic, and we learn more about the kids' background, they are more than capable of stepping up to the challenge.  There's a great scene they both have where they visit another adopting couple who they think have all the answers, only to figure out their life is not quite as together as initially thought.  Not only do Wahlberg and Byrne create a warm on screen relationship with each other and the kids, but they get great individual moments on their own.  Plus, the way the movie views being called "mommy" or "daddy" by the kids as a personal victory that is equal to winning the Super Bowl is sweet and honest.

Instant Family is a feel-good movie, but one that is a bit smarter than others.  I particularly admired how the movie portrays Lizzie as a smart girl who can be a handful at times, but is no worse than most teenagers.  The wonderful performance by Isabela Moner makes her an emotional character that a lot of young teens will probably relate to.  And that's really what this movie does best.  For all of its occasional sitcom trappings and mild moments of slapstick humor, this is a movie that understand what its characters are going through, and relates to them.  We relate to them also in individual moments, and it makes the film all the more rewarding in its final and well-earned happy moments.

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