All Happy Families is an engaging account of a Chicago family that seems relatively unhappy but might actually be as much as can be expected, and relatively aware of that.
Graham, a mostly failed writer and actor, is managing his childhood duplex purchased by his older, and more successful actor, brother Will, and Dana, a former college friend, agrees to rent it. His parents Sue and Roy are coming for the weekend to help prepare the apartment for a new tenant, and then Will unexpectedly arrives ostensibly to escape LA but actually to avoid inappropriate behavior accusations.
Some reviewers suggest that the story is unfinished, and too much for a single slice-of-life movie. I however wonder if that is the point of this film.
Almost every character confronts accumulating crises, both big and small, and yet must continue making tough choices and living their lives.
This condition is clear to Sue, who along with her gal pals confronts her former boss about his inappropriate behavior toward her at her retirement party. She then has an enjoyable evening singing karaoke at a nearby bar with them and discovers after walking home her trans granddaughter Evie asleep on the porch.
Evie Sue learns has driven hours to demand an explanation from her father Will about his alleged behavior, which she discovered on social media. They together enter the family home only to discover Graham and Will fighting on the floor. Sue is struck as she tries to separate them, and announces that she cannot believe that they are her family.
She tells Evie the next morning that she has done some reading and wants more information about trans grandchildren and her grandchild. Then she offers to accompany her on her return drive, and accepts an offer to stay with Evie’s mother and her for a few days without consulting her husband or anyone else.
The ending features Sue and Evie singing on their Nashville roadtrip. Meanwhile, Roy is sorting through the cluttered garage, Will is returning to LA, and Graham must await Dana’s conclusion about her attraction to him, and if it is to his drama or his personality.
Life at least in the Midwest goes on, which is a reassurance that makes this movie satisfying.
And local actors on the big screen are lagniappe.
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