The Steps

A newly blended family of adult children each with their own peculiarities, fears and resentments and locked away in an isolated house in Northern Ontario…what could go wrong? It's a great set up to explore family dynamics, buried emotional scars, forgiveness, isolation and the inherent comedy that exists in all families. If your family isn't laughing at itself half the time you all still have a ton of work to do. That is the message that I took away from this film

The Steps is funny, charming and feels authentic, as if the writer / director Andrew Currie must of lived some iteration or version of this story. It has a kind of idiosyncratic lightness to it, but the comedy is grounded by serious themes and emotions. Andrew Currie has such command of the craft of directing that you kind of become a silent sibling in the corner and let it all unfold in front of you.

Jeff (Jason Ritter) and his sister Marla (Emmanuelle Chriqui) are invited to visit their father Ed (James Brolin) and his new wife Sherry (Christine Lahti). They are joined by Sherry's kids; David (Benjamin Arthur) and his wife Tammy (Kate Corbett), Keith (Steven McCarthy), and Sam (Vinay Virmani).

I like a few of these actors. They are trying to be funny. There is a few chuckles along the way. It doesn't have enough energy. The comedy needs some punching up. The indie filmmaking needs to be sharper. This is mildly amusing.

What a lovely movie but we all know that a government soulless automaton social worker would never allow that couple to adopt, EVER! Only a PC couple (PC people hide all their sins, they are great actors) would be allowed to adopt, period! For that reason and that reason alone I rated the movie a 9 instead of a 10. I hate unreality, basically a fairy tale, even when the fairy tale is heartrending and wistfully enjoyed with the occasional tear. Every performance in this movie was spot on, every performance interesting and unique. James Brolin was excellent and it's good to see that Christine Lahti is still fetching, quite lovely actually, despite being in her mid-sixties, she is very appealing. Christine plays a woman who should be every man's desire, a team player who puts the ones she loves first despite the personal cost to herself plus there is the hot factor. This is a thoroughly enjoyable vehicle and all should give it a go despite the departure from today's reality, but isn't that what movies do?

I watch a ton of these type of movies looking for that gem that nobody has seen or heard of.

I was hoping for laughs, but nothing in this movie made me even giggle.

It's NOT a bad movie, it's just NOT a comedy, unless you have very low standards to make you laugh.

I didn't regret taking the time to watch it, it's basically a story of two very dysfunctional families coming together as one, at a remote location in Canada.

it's somewhat interesting, it's OK, I'll never recommend to people, but I'm not upset I watched it.

It's different, I can say that, I have never watched a story like this before.

Don't watch this unless you really have some time to burn, as I watch this it has a rating of 8.0, this is obviously a rating based on people involved with the film, there is no way this film is anywhere near an 8....

but like I said, not bad...but I didn't even get near a giggle, it is NOT funny, in my opinion.

It IS however well acted, well written, Well directed, overall well done, I have nothing else bad to say other than it's not a comedy, it's a dramedy, that is somewhat amusing...but nonetheless an interesting, original, somewhat heartwarming story...

So, it started off OK. And I mean just OK. I liked where the characters were going. But then, it got to a situation where BULLYING and ASSAULT was involved. AND allowed by BOTH parents no less. As well as allowed by the family members. It's not acceptable. And not funny.

The acting was decent. Jason Ritter was pretty good. I liked Christine Lahti. Halfway through the movie, they were the stand outs for me.

After the halfway mark, the movie got even worse and made me regret thinking there was hope. Maybe the best thing about the movie was that amazing house they filmed in and the scenery / location.