What happens when you combine the coming of age hilarity of “American Pie†with the weird, yet intriguing storytelling of “American Beauty�
While “The Family Tree†lacks the polish of the aforementioned films, it does a sound enough job entertaining that it’s enjoyable, but more in a haphazard way than anything else.
Never firmly establishing itself in any real way, it’s almost impossible to put this film in a genre. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it makes it hard to target the picture towards any particular audience. For the most part, it’s humorous, but drama-filled at others. There’s a message of patience, acceptance and courage rolled up within the mish-mash of categories the film touches upon as well, but it never hits home the way it should. It even has hints of John Hughes’ teenage angst films and the type of family drama that made “American Beauty†such a solid film. There are also times were it appears completely slapstick and possesses near B-Movie-esque storytelling. Simply put, there’s way too much going on here. While most of it is good, some of it is sheer bananas.
At the heart of “The Family Tree†is the love-hate relationship between Kelly [Hope Davis] and Jack Burnett [Dermot Mulroney]. Married for years and unhappy, Kelly turns to infidelity until an ironic accident robs her of her memory, which gives her a second chance at happiness with her family. But Jack has his own problems. Sick of his cold wife and her antics, he finds her sudden change of personality hard to warm up to, all the while harboring feelings for young secretary Alicia [played by the ultra sexy Christina Hendricks]. Her children [Max Thieriot and Brittany Robertson, who both turn in solid and mature performances] are far from perfect too, as they must battle their inner-demons, while they find out more about their mother and themselves.
Add in solid supporting performances from Selma Blair, Chi McBride, Keith Caradine and Jake Richardson, alongside interesting yet capable cameos from Bow Wow and Jane Seymour and its obvious there is enough talent on-screen.
Nevertheless, the script itself is where the real problem is. Too often does the film chase itself away from captivation, to only go develop another plotline. By the end of it all, everything comes together entirely too fast, as if the film was edited in a mad dash. Simply put, there’s enough content in this picture to support a well-written season of a television drama. With what feels like a tacked-on ending, there’s no sense of finality or accomplishment here.
Sure, the characters seem to learn something about themselves in the end and everyone manages to find a smile in spite of the very serious situation they’ve all found themselves in, but it all feels forced.
As a result, you will enjoy the developments that lead to the climax of “The Family Tree,†but will fail to be enthralled by the climax itself. Sad, because with a capable young cast and the veteran Mulroney, this film had the potential to be a sleeper hit.
Leave a Reply