X
- 2012
- Not Rated
- E.D. Distribution
- 2 h 49 m
- 2012
- Not Rated
- E.D. Distribution
- 2 h 49 m
Summary In the town of Martin, Tennessee, Chip Hines, a precocious six year old, has only known life with his two dads, Cody and Joey. And a good life it is. When Cody dies suddenly in a car accident, Joey and Chip struggle to find their footing again. Just as they begin to, Cody’s will reveals that he named his sister as Chip’s guardian. The ye...
Directed By: Patrick Wang
Written By: Patrick Wang
- 2012
- Not Rated
- E.D. Distribution
- 2 h 49 m
- 2012
- Not Rated
- E.D. Distribution
- 2 h 49 m
In the Family
82
6.4
Where to Watch
Summary In the town of Martin, Tennessee, Chip Hines, a precocious six year old, has only known life with his two dads, Cody and Joey. And a good life it is. When Cody dies suddenly in a car accident, Joey and Chip struggle to find their footing again. Just as they begin to, Cody’s will reveals that he named his sister as Chip’s guardian. The ye...
Directed By: Patrick Wang
Written By: Patrick Wang
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 9 Critic Reviews
82
89% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
11% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 9 Critic Reviews
82
89% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
11% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Wang has made a confidently intimate movie that is devastatingly larger-than-life.
What a courageous first feature this is, a film that sidesteps shopworn stereotypes and tells a quiet, firm, deeply humanist story about doing the right thing. It is a film that avoids any message or statement and simply shows us, with infinite sympathy, how the life of a completely original character can help us lead our own.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 12 User Ratings
6.4
50% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
25% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
25% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 12 User Ratings
6.4
50% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
25% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
25% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
This film is certainly not for everyone, at almost 3 hours length, with minimal soundtrack and mostly static shots. But I sat riveted until the end, as did most of the audience in the theater.
The plot sounds melodramatic: a **** Asian man fights for the custody of the son he shared with his deceased lover. But writer/director Patrick Wang, who seems clearly influenced by the understated Yasujiro Ozu and Ang Lee, avoids the easy moral conflicts. Instead, he focuses on the daily lives of mostly average and good hearted people. There are no stereotype villains here. Instead of a Hollywood court battle, we have an almost documentary like deposition meeting that still manages to be dramatic and emotionally true.
The cast is uniformly terrific, especially young Sebastian Banes as Chip and Brian Murray as the lawyer. Certain quietly powerful scenes still stay with me, like the kitchen scene post-funeral and Chip replaying the audiotape of his father's voice calling his name. Patrick Wang will be a talent to follow!
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The acting was a bit mediocre giving the viewer the impression of being an amateur movie. There wasn't much of a character story to know each person and no buildup of the story, so the scenes just jumped into each other. I did although love the storyline, it just could have been done better.
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This deeply humanistic, profoundly touching work representing independent cinema at its finest should be seen by far wider audiences.
Deliberate and marked by uncommon grace, In The Family manages to feel politically and culturally acute without ever resorting to melodrama, or having to wave banners for issues or causes, except perhaps in its quiet way for a renewed humanism in movies and a return to stories about everyday lives.
Mr. Wang's slow-reveal psychological drama isn't just a showcase for his excellent ensemble cast. Beautifully modulated and stylistically sui generis, In the Family is also one of the most accomplished and undersold directorial debuts this year.
Despite a number of plot twists, In the Family is more about its constant blanks and dead time, its silence and inert camerawork, which require a viewer to fill in the gaps with one's own perceptions of what's happening.
It is probably unlike any movie you've ever seen, and in ways both bad and good. It is, by turns, inept and brilliant, shockingly amateurish and inspired. To see it is to sit there for long stretches amazed at how clumsy, fake and misguided it is. But then, five minutes later you might easily be riveted and moved by its awkward brilliance.
Endlessly long and muddled. Could have been dramatically shorter with better writing and editing. Completely improbable plot changes and ending. I wanted to get up repeatedly and walk out but the theatre was quite full and that would have distracted other movie patrons. DO NOT SEE this movie based on the reviews shown here. This is NOT a very good movie.
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I could only handle sitting through half the movie so if there is some spectacular ending that I missed I am sorry. There was little to no emotion and I felt nothing for the characters. All the rave reviews were strictly because of the subject matter.
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Production Company
In the Family
Release Date Apr 22, 2012
Duration 2 h 49 m
Rating Not Rated
Awards
San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
San Diego Asian Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
Young Artist Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
