Instant Family Review
Instant Family isn't a great movie, but the message about adoption and the kids who grow up in their system is an important one that the film gets right. The film's heart is in the right place, and for every forehead slap inducing joke is a meaningful scene that's talking about the adoption process and the pros and cons that come with this life altering decision.
Pete and Ellie, played by Mark Walhberg and Rose Byrne, are home flippers. They find run down homes and repair them, making them look glorious, and then sell them. When talking to Elli's sister and her husband about having kids they realize that their lives have been mostly work and no play with them putting off the kids phase for years. Now, Ellie gets the bug for some little ones and looks up an adoption website where Pete finds her crying over photos of adorable kids. Being the strong partner he tells Ellie that kids will happen, but just not now. That is until he looks at the photos and joins Ellie in crying and saying "We can go see what it's like at least," and thus their path towards adopting a kid starts.
The biggest aspect this film has going for it is its message. Ultimately, this film is about the adoption process and how difficult, yet rewarding, it can be. People from all walks of life are there from religious couples, gay couples, couples who can't conceive, and so on. Then, the film goes through the whole process in letting these future parents know what they're going to be in for, and one couple actually leaves because of that, until it's time for them to meet these foster kids.
Pete and Ellie go to the fair that the foster services set up and learn that nobody is interested in the teenaged kids. So, having enough of that, Pete steps up to the plate and tries to talk to them, but Ellie disagrees and they have a loud argument about why. One girl speaks up and shuts them up, and she leaves such an impression with them that they decide to adopt her, but it turns out she has two younger siblings. Not prepared to have three kids Pete and Ellie agree and soon their lives turn upside down as they try and understand their new kids and how to help them.
In between all the good this movie is doing are jokes that mostly don't work. Some of them felt like they were made up on the day, not thought out, or they were looking for the lowest common denominator in laughs. When the jokes were about actual families and their struggles together it was funny, and relatable, but scenes like the beginning where Ellie's sister and husband were joking about them not having kids fell mostly flat.
The parts where this film sings are when Pete and Ellie are trying to understand their new kids. The struggles of being a family, and the small victories that come with it, will make any heart melt when seeing it on screen. This movie works great when the cast is interacting with each other, specifically Isabela Moner's performance as Lizzy. She's the glue to the family and a conflicted complicated teenager who still remembers being raised by her mother and is fighting back against Pete and Ellie in hopes that her real mother will swoop in and raise them again.
Another great thing about this movie is that it's not a rising victory for Pete and Ellie when they finally start bonding with their kids. It comes in waves, and just like a real family they have those bad patches. Little victories such as Lita calling Pete "Daddy" and Juan starting to trust his new parents instead of cowering and saying "I'm sorry." Because of those small milestones Lizzy comes around and their happy for a time, until Lizzy, Juan, and Lita's real mother gets out of prison. Then you feel the hole in Pete and Ellie's life as their kids are going to be taken back.
As a film, Instant Family is not the best. The editing is a bit wonky, the jokes subpar, but when the story is dealing with the family aspect and covers practically every avenue in the adoption process it soars. The emotion and message of the movie is its priority and without a doubt it nails it, and more than makes up for the missteps along the way. Like a family this film is a patchwork, but in the end it's worth it.
5.5/10
