INSTANT FAMILY REVIEW!!! (SPECIAL MOVIE EVENT TONIGHT AT THE DIETRICH!!

Studios: Paramount Pictures/Leverage Entertainment

Tagline: Just add chaos .. laughter .. awkwardness .. mistakes .. love

Plot: When Pete and Ellie decide to start a family, they stumble into the world of foster care adoption. They hope to take in one small child, but when they meet three siblings, including a rebellious 15 year old girl, they find themselves speeding from zero to three kids. Now, Pete and Ellie must try to learn the ropes of instant parenthood in the hope of becoming a family.

Cast

Mark Wahlberg - pete

Rose Byrne - Rllie

Isabela Merced - Lizzy

Gustavo Escobar - Juan

Julianna Gamiz - Lita

Octavia Spencer - Karen

Tig Notaro - Sharon

Tom Segura - Russ

Allyn Rachel - Kim

Britt Rentschler - Linda

Jody Thompson - Jim

Margo Martindale - Grandma Sandy

Julie Hagerty - Jan

Michael O'Keefe - Jerry

Writer(s): Sean Anders and John Morris (Spirited; Daddy's Home 1 and 2)

Director: Sean Anders (Spirited; Daddy's Home 1 and 2)

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, sexual material, language and some drug references (118 minutes)

The Dietrich Theater will be showing the movie Instant Family tonight at 6 pm for a special event and is presented by Northeast Regional Youth Advisory Board and sponsored by AllOne Charities and the Northeastern PA Health Care Foundation. I decided to give this movie another look since it is currently streaming on Paramount Plus and haven't seen it since I initially reviewed it for the Examiner in 2018.

The 2018 comedy/drama does feature some really great laughs, especially during the moments when Pete and Ellie start fostering the three kids. The Grandma Sandy character also provided some of the funny moments as well. One thing I really enjoyed about the movie is that it knows how to switch tones really well.

When it goes from comedy to serious drama in a matter of moments, the transition works really well and some of the seriousness can be very empowering. There is a moment during the movie where you see Pete and Lizzy (the rebellious teen) at a home that Pete's working on and Pete finally has a little one-on-one time with her. And, also helps her take some aggression out by smashing stuff. During that time, you see that Pete's happy that he finally got through to her.

I won't be going into any spoiler territory here, but the last twenty minutes or so of the movie will really have you feeling moved and maybe even teary-eyed. Even though the movie does feature some good laughs, it also shows that being a foster family can be a blessing. But also could be one of the hardest things to do.

Here are a couple fun tidbits about the movie!

• The movie was inspired by writer/director Sean Anders' and his family's own experiences adopting three foster children through the Seneca Family of Agencies' Kinship Center.

• This was the third collaboration between Anders and Wahlberg. Their previous two movies were the two Daddy's Home movies.

• Anders talked to other adoptive families and teens who had grown up in care and then been adopted in order to research the character of Lizzy.

• Instant Family grossed $67.4 million domestic, and $53.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $120.6 million, against a $48 million production budget.

https://youtu.be/IUfZq3DUd3Y