This movie was one that I wanted to see as soon as it's shown in Indonesian theaters. My wife and I were supposed to see it on last Friday but turned out it did not play at our most comfortable time in the theater near our home. We only saw this yesterday after my wife's events. And why I was eager to see the film? Will tell you more about it below.
Brief Story Line
Pete (Mark Wahlberg - Deepwater Horizon, Mile 22 etc) and Ellie (Rose Byrne - Peter Rabbit, Spy etc) were married couple who did not have kids. After casually discussing about possibly adopting a child, both of them went to a foster care course where they met with social workers Karen (Octavia Spencer - The Shape of Water, The Help etc) and Sharon (Tig Notaro) who encouraged and guide them to be ready.
After finishing the course, and going through a process, Pete and Ellie finally met with a 15 year old girl named Lizzy (Isabela Moner - Sicario: Day of the Soldado etc) whom they instantly felt interested in taking her in. However Lizzy had a younger brother Juan (Gustavo Quiroz) and sister Lita (Julianna Gamiz) and as recommended by Karen & Sharon, it would be better if Lizzy was not separated from her siblings.
With so much challenges they had to face, Pete and Ellie decided to give it a shot and adopt all 3 of them. So how would the story conclude? Find them all in this lovely drama comedy movie.
End of Brief Story Line
When I saw the trailer to this movie few times previously, I thought it would be a movie of real fun with emphasis on comedy. Especially when there were a couple of scenes that hinted it would be a really funny film. However, as I saw the movie till it ended, it was unlike what I had anticipated earlier. It was not a movie that was filled with comedy scenes from start to finish but it was more of a family drama with some touches of fun & comedic situation arising from the couple's interaction with their brand new adopted children.
This was such a wonderfully written family drama comedy filled with so many lovely scenes and really heartwarming parts that touched me and my wife (who could not stop shedding tears in lots of the scenes). One thing that must be clarified though, this was a movie which was not meant to be a heavy film that required us lots of thinking. The story was simple enough to understand for everyone (including the younger audience) and I was very sure it touched a lot of hearts in the theater. It was a very aspiring drama, no doubt would probably inspire people as well.
As a family drama comedy, I felt this one truly hit the spot. It had such a wonderful story of a couple trying their best in adopting not one, not two but three children at the same time. And it had so much family values we could see as well, plus it was combined very nicely with many humor which allowed us time to absorb the story in a perfect pace. Even though it had almost 2 hours duration, but we really did not feel it boring at all. I loved Mark Wahlberg's performance in here with his tough love act and some of his remarks were like short one or two sentences that could make us laugh. I think his experience in playing some comedic roles and as parents in Daddy's Home and its sequel or Ted and Ted 2 really helped him in portraying this guy perfectly. While Rose Byrne (whom I also liked in the comedy movie Neighbors) did a good job too playing as the wife, mother as well as sister to a rather "crazy" family,
Aside from the couple, the movie also had some nice performances as well, from Julie Hagerthy and Michael O'Keefe who played Ellie's parents Jan and Jerry respectively, plus of course the very memorable Margo Martindale as Pete's mother: Sandy. The kids also were adorable with their own special characteristics. The younger children were really good especially Gustavo Quiroz as Juan, while Isabela Moner was also convincing playing as a teenager with teenage problem and having to become a 'mother' for her siblings. Fun fact: this was her second performance with Mark Wahlberg after Transformers: The Last Knight.
Overall, I really felt that this movie was fantastic. It was very lovely. You would get some laughs, some emotional moments and most amazing of all, it successfully did what a family movie was supposed to do, which was to make us felt the warmth and leave the theater with the feeling of happiness and satisfaction of a 2 hours really well spent. Btw, there was no mid or post end credit scene, but you could see many photos of real life American couples who have adopted children through the foster care, while accompanied by nice song sung by Isabela Moner herself, titled I'll Stay. So if you are looking for a really positive family drama comedy movie, this one would surely touch your heart as it did to me and my wife.
Happy watching!
Mike's movie moments rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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