Die Hollars - Eine Wahnsinnsfamilie

John Krasinski's feature directorial debut, #TheHollars is one of this year's must-see films, it's the most honest and hilarious dysfunctional family comedy I've seen in recent years. Perfect ensemble cast, especially the great Margo Martindale whose performance has Oscar written all over it.

Krasinski plays a struggling NYC artist named John Hollar who hates his job and has a rich and caring pregnant girlfriend (Anna Kendrick). John returns to his small mid-America hometown upon hearing the news of his mother's (Margo Martingale) illness. But coming back isn't easy because it brings up not only old pains between family members but also high school rivalry and other anxieties. Co-starring Richard Jenkins, Sharlto Copley, Charlie Day, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Josh Groan and Randall Park.

I think it all stems from Jim Strouse's script that gives us a look at a family that is reflective of the ones we the audiences have. The story just flows naturally becomes I think it comes from a very real and truthful place. You don't have to have grown up in small town U.S.A. and you can still relate to the banter, the anger, the argument, the jealousy, and the heartbreak. The comedy in "The Hollars" is so ferocious so whenever the drama does kick in, you feel it all the much stronger. All the actors involved did a phenomenal job of having an emotional impact on you, especially Margo Martindale whom I've always considered to be a national treasure, in "The Hollars," she gets to unleash her fullest potential, it's as if everything she ever did her career over the years had led her up to this defining moment, what a remarkable actress. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll find hope in "The Hollars." -- Rama's Screen --

"The Hollars" is one of those movies that has a mixture of laughs, drama, and sorrow and sadness still it entertains with love and memories showing that life always is a change with the new. John(John Krasinski)is a man who returns to his small Ohio town to visit his dying mother Sally Hollar(the wonderful Margo Martindale)who's very ill with a terminal case of brain cancer. By her side is her loving husband of many years Don(Richard Jenkins)and it's a tailspin for John he's got a lot on his plate including a pregnant wife in Rebecca(Anna Kendrick)and he meets an old flame of his while in town and she's still interested even though married too, and John doesn't want to move back! Clearly this film is clearly a test of love and fate it shows that with time life and fate changes it's all about new starts despite the sorrow and loss of a loved one still memories of love will always be present. Overall "The Hollars" is one touching emotional drama of love and change it's one film to sure see.

Don't be fooled by the categorisation of the film on the In Flight Entertainment channel. It's not just a comedy as advertised but a honest, tear jerking yet funny and thought provoking film. The honesty of the movie has me examined my relationship with my own parents - have I spend enough time with them? care about them as much I should? The love and marriage the older Hollars have is something we should all want and work towards to.

The actors did a phenomenal job portraying their characters - bringing them to life, making my heart wrench with what is happening to them and having me invested all 90 minutes to find out how the story pans out in the end.

Highly recommend watching this if you're tired of watching all the big money Hollywood films and is looking for something refreshing to watch.

Films with families coming together where one sibling his been absent for years that has in turn led to rivalry and jealously are not exactly new ground but in 'The Hollars' it never feels overly familiar thanks largely to the golden rule of film making, that a good script is King. The movie directing debut of John Krasinski, who also acts see's him play John Hollar, a struggling insecure graphic novelist, with a pregnant girlfriend (Anna Kendrick) living in New York. Upstate his father (Jenkins, brilliant as always) is running a failing family business, while his brother (Sharlto Copley) Ron, has just been fired by the Dad for warning him they're days away from bankruptcy. Ron has his own problems, going through a divorce from his wife and missing his two daughters, resulting in some what dysfunctional behaviour. It is in this setting that the patriarchal mother of the household (Margo Martindale, so natural & so brilliant she makes acting looks effortless) discovers she has a brain tumour, forcing the brothers together and the father to re- evaluate himself and the mistakes he may have made before its too late. A subplot involves John meeting his old flame who has now married high school friend turned hospital nurse (Charlie Day) who in turn is a bit of a dick. Will John resolve his own issues and see what is right in front of him, how will the father cope with his impending loss and can Ron find a peaceful solution to his messy divorce & cope with his wife's new love in the form of the affable local Priest (Nicely underplayed by Josh Groban) - Such are the dilemmas facing this familiar feeling family.

How dramas of this type work often depend on how engaging the characters are and connecting with them at an early stage. Krasinski cleverly never makes you like anyone in-particular too much or too little, tugging at the heart strings just right. Krasinski assembled a top notch group of actors here who clearly know their craft. This could have been a play on stage, but has enough drama to work well on screen. Copley plays a role very different from previous performances and handles the American accent with ease, while Kendrick proves she can handle a more demanding role outside of the Twilight Saga spectrum. Some characters feel a little underwritten, Ashley Dyke does well to make you notice her in a part with little characterisation, but essentially this is a film about The Hollars (Hence the title) and they are rightly the focus of the piece.

I have no doubt that Margo Martindale will be criminally under looked when it comes to award season for her role of the mother. One of those actresses who I have seen hundreds of times, has assured I will always know her name after this performance. The film may not break much new ground, but it is certainly among the best within its genre and fortunately, it wasn't set during Thanksgiving with a scene involving a turkey. Recommended.

"The Hollars" (2016 release; 90 min.) brings the story of the Hollar family. As the movie opens, Sally (the matriarch so to speak) is found laying on the bathroom floor, and we soon learn that she has a potentially life-threatening brain tumor ("the size of a softball"). Meanwhile, we also get to know her husband Don, whose heating and plumbing business is *this* short of bankruptcy, oldest son Ron, who is so down on his luck that he is living in the basement of his parents' house, and younger son John, a wanna-be graphic novelist bored out of his mind at his current customer service job, and his highly pregnant girlfriend Becca. At this point we're 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the second film directed by actor John Krazinski (who also plays the role of the younger son John). In this movie, he examines a dysfunctional (and that is a kind reference) family, in which pretty much everyone is unhappy, or unlucky, or both, as to the state of affairs in their respective lives. The movie is billed as a 'comedy-drama' and I'd say that is pretty accurate, with the funniest bits coming up in the first half of the movie (with the best of those featured prominently in the movie's trailer, which I had seen beforehand). The second part of the movie is far more introspective, and for me the better part of the movie. When John asks his mom how she managed to get through 38 years of marriage, Sally responds "Don't waste time with the bad, live with the good. I've had a good marriage for 38 years." The movie is helped tremendously by some wonderful acting performances, starting first and foremost with Margo Martindale as Sally, bur Richard Jenkins as her husband Don is equally great. Anna Kendrick as John's highly pregnant girlfriend has a surprisingly large role 9and she is super-charming in it), whereas Mary Elizabeth Winstead as John's ex-girlfriend has maybe 5 min. of screen time in total. Check out also Josh Groban (yes, the singer) in a charming role as Reverend Dan. Last but not least, there is a terrific soundtrack from singer-songwriter Josh Ritter. Bottom line: the movie has received a mixed reaction from critics and the public at large. Perhaps because of that, my expectations were low, going into this. Instead, I found myself fully charmed by and invested in these characters, and I was sorry to let go of them when the movie was over.

"The Hollars" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and it finally made its way to my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this past weekend. The Monday evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay (given it was a Monday). No, this film doesn't cover any new ground as such, but if you like small-scale indie movies with a big heart, you;ll want to give this one a chance, be it in the theater, on Amazon Instant Video or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray. "The Hollars" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!