You Can Choose Your Family

The casting and acting were nearly perfect in this film. If you could take the first 90 prevent of it and stick a new ending on it then it probably would have been one of the best movies of the year. Unfortunately the ending falls completely flat. The viewer gets no reward for the time invested in these characters.

I can't even really recommend it to anyone because even though the vast majority of the movie is wonderful it ultimately falls short. Completely and utterly.

I thought this movie was quite clever and funny. Logan Miller portrays Philip, a teenager who decides on spring break to deceive his parents and head up to the lakeside Starling Festival with his best friend.

However, upon arrival, he will get the shock pf his life when he discovers his father (Jim Gaffigan) has a complete second family. Of course, from there things will get very, very complicated.

All in all, this type of movie is not easy to get all the pieces to fit together. But I thought director Amanda Bailey and writer Glen Lakin did well here to get the elements to gel nicely. Although the movie can be sad and cutting at times, I did find myself laughing a lot and I really enjoyed the film.

I was more than a bit suspect coming into this film, having seen the trailer and having a general idea of the plot. That said, a fairly bizarre story unfolds in a unique and somewhat creative way, and so I have to give the filmmaker a bit of credit for that.

To me, it goes a bit off the rails near the end... that's not completely fair, it's amusingly off the rails almost from the start. But while I appreciated the creativity of the first 2/3 of the film, much of the last 40 minutes becomes contrived and dopey.. Too bad; there really was a fair amount of witty dialogue and uncomfortably awkward humor to carry the story, and I had hopes that this might turn into a hidden gem. But where it eventually goes was, to me, disappointing. I really wish they had written this a better ending. So we'll say "I liked it, but it wasted its truest potential and settled for slightly above average." So it gets a 6.

I really enjoyed this clever comedy about Frank, and its deep dive down the rabbit hole of the life of a creative bigamist. The script and characters are hilarious, and I knew from the moment the plot and cast were revealed in the trailer that this was going to be a riproaring little gem. This is the directorial debut for Miranda, and it's great to see a female director and Skidmore alum step up and excel with such a bold film. Don't miss it!

I was worried by the 5.6 rating but that's not the reality of this movie. It's well put together, complex, funny and fun. Jim Gaffigan is perfect as the two timing dad, he pulls it off with believable self unawareness, clumsily but surely getting himself into and out of tight spots. All the cast were good and it was a clever and complicated set up to pull off. Writing, editing and directing this piece wouldn't have been easy so full credit for a well executed end product. The film ending was the least strong part of the story but really where could it have gone and remained believable? It was left a little open ended, and that's probably for the best, although the happy ending junkies that we are would have hoped for a tidy finish, the one they chose left you to think a little after the movie finished.