You Can Choose Your Family

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.

Being Frank or You Can Choose Your Family, two tiles for one movie. It's not the first time I see that and I honestly don't get the point of that. Just choose one title and that's it. That said it wasn't a bad movie. First of all I love Jim Gaffigan as a stand-up comedian so I was a bit curious about his acting skills. It wasn't bad but even if this movie is supposed to be a comedy (there are some funny moments but I've seen better) his stand-up comedies are just much funnier. The cast was good, the story is entertaining with some good moments, so overall it's a movie worth watching.

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.

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.

The film isn't really that funny, it's not particularly well acted and quite Frankly, no pun intended, its a middle of the road film. However having watched a lot of these so called serious films, on subjects that tackle some of the same themes in this film. I would much rather be entertained in this manner, than force fed misery from a serious film.

All in all, the film covers some harsh concepts but in a light easy to see all sides of a perspective way. Life isn't binary people. Worth a lazy day easy watch.