When you are on almost a 14-hour flight, you try to get some sleep. And when, several hours later, you are all broken up because sleeping on the plane is as uncomfortable as it ever was, you try to watch some movies to help you take your mind off it. I was in that situation a few days ago and didn’t want to watch something “heavy”; I was just looking for a comedy I hadn’t seen yet. And Instant Family caught my attention as I have seen the poster before, but I don’t remember hearing about this movie too much. But it has Rose Byrne, Octavia Spencer, Isabela Merced and Margo Martindale, so surely it will at least be decent, right? Despite the presence of Mark Wahlberg, whom I don’t hate, I don’t really care for, I hoped for something good. And what I got was… excellent?!
This film starts like your stereotypical comedy. We have the sexy power couple (Byrne and Walhberg), who have everything they could want except for kids. So they decide to adopt some. And this was the first surprise, how much time the film spent showing us how the foster process isn’t as easy and how much you must do to get some kids into your care. Where many films would show us a montage supercut of that, Instant Family spends decent enough time on this portion of the film.
And then we finally meet the kids, played by Gustavo Escobar, Julianna Gamiz, and, the aforementioned, Isabela Merced. If you watch some “family comedies”, you know that more often than not, the kids might be cute, but they aren’t the best actors and can get annoying very quickly. But Instant Family won the lottery with these three, as each kid’s personality is different enough that it never gets stale. They all have delivered great performances, but most importantly, they always behaved like kids. Many times, movies (and TV shows) have a kid character that talks and acts like an adult because that’s easier to write. This film gives each of these kids their persona; each goes through a believable growth, and that’s what makes them getting closer to their foster parents so charming. You believe them when the kids either hate them or are not sure about them, and when the movie progresses, you also accept that these kids would farm up to them, and it never feels forced. All three were natural and had great chemistry amongst themselves and with their foster parents.
I have seen a quite few movies with Rose Byrne to make this claim – she might just be one of the most underrated and underused actresses of our time. No matter the film, she always delivers; no matter her scene partner, she elevates their work and does it effortlessly. It’s her and her relationship with all these kids (but mainly with Isabela) that’s the heart of this film, and if their mother-daughter chemistry didn’t work, this movie would have felt off. But they both delivered. Also, this movie might have cracked the formula regarding Wahlberg being an okay actor simply; surround him with better actors, and he won’t be as bad! 😉 On a more serious note, I thought Mark did fine in this role; he was funny and charismatic, and his bond, particularly with Gustavo’s character, worked. I never thought I would write this, but his chemistry with Rose Byrne worked much better than expected.
Here is the thing, I don’t cry during films (often). It only happened twice so far, the first time being Coco (2017) and the second CODA (2021, my review here). I don’t know whether it was because I was still tired or whether Instant Family was that great, but it almost made me cry on the plane. When the emotional beats hit, they hit hard and feel authentic. I would imagine it would partly be because the director and one of the writers of this film, Sean Anders, made this movie because he went through this situation and adopted three children. Maybe that is why those emotional moments never felt cheap to me; perhaps because of that, I enjoyed this movie much more than I had expected. I had a blast. I laughed a lot; I almost cried three times, and that should count for something. When a movie can elicit such a strong reaction (again, it’s unique for me to cry at films), I must give it the highest rating because I would be a hypocrite. Also, Character Actress Margot Martindale is that cool, loving grandma everyone would want to have.
Overall, Instant Family delivered much more than I expected. I went in anticipating a fine family comedy and left almost crying, but despite that, still in a great mood. This movie felt like a warm blanket on a cold Sunday afternoon. I never thought I would say this, but I love this movie. It shows the whole foster process whilst also presenting us with the perspective of the kids and the parents, making us understand all their characters. The heart of this film lies with Rose Byrne and Isabela Merced, who carry this movie alongside everyone else. If you want to watch something lighter with a big heart, Instant Family is the perfect choice.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Until next time,
Luke