“All happy families are alike” reads Leo Tolstoy’s famous first sentence from Anna Karenina; but “each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”. While some viewers might view all indie dramedies about dysfunctional families like “Little Miss Sunshine” or “The Squid and the Whale” as similar in tone, writer-director Haroula Rose’s film suggests this genre has taken an intriguing new turn with more grounded plotlines; whether this shift proves fruitful is yet to be determined.
Graham (Josh Radnor), an aspiring screenwriter/actor whose older brother Will (Rob Huebel), an immensely popular yet seemingly terrible television series starring Graham’s older sibling Will (Rob Huebel). At an unexpected visit from Los Angeles for Will to Chicago where their childhood home they purchased together is, Becky Ann Baker plays their mother Sue while their father Roy Ashton (John Ashton) may or may not be gambling again.
It may appear to be much, but that’s only scratching the surface: Graham recently reconnected with college acquaintance Dana (Chandra Russell), whom he intends on renting from, while Will’s teenage daughter Ivy O’Brien has recently come out as trans, while Will remains vague regarding why he returned unexpectedly home – all signs that the Landrys themselves are unhappy in some form or another.
Radnor is no stranger to multihyphenate roles: she wrote and directed two Sundance hits as well as playing the leading character on “How I Met Your Mother”, yet seems perfectly at home taking on Graham as she plays both protagonist and supporting role on stage. He can barely believe his success at becoming the most stable member of his family despite not always living up to their standards of behavior. Rose and co-writer Coburn Goss’ script excels when exploring Graham and Dana’s reignited romance; unlike Graham’s soon-to-be landlord who, whenever something good appears in life, she doesn’t sabotage herself and make matters worse by self-sabotaging herself. “All Happy Families” can sometimes feel like multiple movies at once with its various subplots competing for dominance like siblings vying for attention before ultimately the romantic comedy segments are chosen as winners.
“I cannot believe this is my family,” is perhaps one of the film’s most relatable lines; we may all have thought or said these words at some point or another even if not out loud. All Happy Families does not feature grandiloquent speeches or overwrought monologues but relies more heavily on small but lived-in moments to elevate its overall message and make its points of difference stand out more strongly than its intentionally disjointed parts.
“All Happy Families” presents itself with many challenges for any family of four to manage and a filmmaker as a filmmaker, particularly one making a 90-minute slice of life film. Thus it should come as no surprise that “All Happy Families” ends up feeling incomplete – as though we were watching an unfinished pilot episode rather than an individual feature film. Though leaving viewers wanting more is understandable and can keep audiences wanting more for some reason or another – Rose and Goss touch upon many heavy subjects – most subplots could become their own narratives altogether but are limited by time availability in developing these issues further than touching on most subjects fully before credits roll.
