directed by:
Karl Ryan Erikson written by: Karl Ryan Erikson genre: Comedy |
Man, it doesn’t take more than five seconds of viewing a family of five trying to squeeze themselves into one car, under the illusion that they could ever possibly enjoy the ride, before I find myself being fully grateful for making a conscious choice to never have children long ago. No disrespect to all of you parents out there…if family is your thing, have at’er I say - but I knew it was never going to be for me, and I’d like to personally thank Writer/Director Karl Ryan Erikson for confirming that for me once again. To be fair to ME, let’s be real here - we’re talking about a family gathering SO BIG they had to order extra outdoor “shitters” to accommodate all the guests. Incidentally, if you’re ever wondering if you’re having too many people over, it’s the having to order extra outdoor facilities that tells you the answer.
“The Family Recipe” keeps it pretty lighthearted with lots of poop jokes and stinky references as the movie begins, and we all know those are essentially as timeless as they are universal. We all laugh at farts and dogs poopin’ & such, don’t we? I hope that’s the case, or I’m even more immature than I had previously assumed. It’s not long before the husband, Gary (Chris Connell), nearly burns down the house with the family recipe book catching fire, leaving his wife Alison (Stacey Van Gorder) freaking out because she has no idea how to replicate the family’s culinary history without it. That’s practical and seems very real to me. We get nudged to back up our data all the time when it comes to technology and such, but no one stresses how important it might be to back up your recipe book in case of disaster. It becomes pretty clear that having dinner just about anywhere else other than the Mitchell’s house is probably the best move anyone could make right now. The kids, Larry (Benjamin Erikson), Andrew (Ethan Fisher), and Nancy (Caroline Digan), are clearly a LOT to deal with, and they’re all at different phases of their young lives, but they provide much of the fun in this film along the way. As for Alison’s selection of man-child Gary as her husband, good lord, she’s got me questioning ALL of her life choices. You can feel how close the walls in this house are, to the point where it feels like the oxygen is being sucked right out of the room you’re in while you’re watching. There’s no such thing as privacy in this house. There’s no such thing as functionality here, either. There is only chaos, and so, so much of it. Keep in mind, this is all the setup BEFORE the other guests arrive to add even more fuel to this family fire. “The Family Recipe” continually twists the knife of holiday anxiety into you with pleasure. From inappropriate conversations to people arriving early, to the constant references to the shit smell that seems to have permeated the walls of the Mitchell home…this gathering is a collection of nightmares. Grandma Margo (Cheryl McClendon) seems sweet and inexplicably sane by comparison to the rest of this crew of crazies. Grandpa Tim (Larky Barnes) is quite content to cause more trouble. The list goes on and on with uncles and nephews and family of all kinds showing up outta the woodwork to make sure this event is reliably awful. This movie is billed as a Comedy, but I’m telling you this belongs in the Horror section without a doubt; I was fully terrorized and traumatized by watching “The Family Recipe.” The bad dad jokes start flying around in abundance. Stuff starts to get broken. The poop smell is still present and accounted for, despite all the cooking that’s been going on. What I don’t see is nearly enough drinks flowing in order to be able to cope with everything happening under this dysfunctional roof. When there are some drinks doled out, they’re…milk? With sugar in it? Gather around for the family…milk drinking? Is that what we’re really doing here? What the heck am I watching right now? I think you have to see “The Family Recipe” as a lesson on when some traditions should be broken, and that the burning of the red book of recipes might be the best opportunity to create new ones. The more you see Alison try to comply with her sense of instilled family values, the more her exhaustion starts to feel like our own. I don’t want her to go through this any more than I’d want to go through it myself, you feel me? We’re watching theoretical obligations…punishment rituals we disguise as family traditions…established routines that don’t in fact NEED to be the way that they are. We can break free. Halfway into the movie, I’m wondering why anyone would put themselves through the stuff I’m seeing.
So let’s see here. On the critical side of things, I think it’s fair to say that there’s not a whole lot of new stuff that we’re seeing in “The Family Recipe” - the holiday disaster scenario has been plenty explored in a countless number of films that have come before this one. On the positive side of things, where I felt like “The Family Recipe” excels is in finding that sweet spot, where they can still be crass and family-friendly at the same time…this is all ultimately as inoffensive as it gets, which makes it something that everyone can watch. Of course, anytime that’s the case, older kids and adults will start to rebel against anything that is suitable for everyone, so it’s a bit of a double-edged sword in that regard. Yes, everyone can watch something like “The Family Recipe,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean everyone will want to. Notable bright-spots in the cast, from my perspective, would include young Larry for his well-timed sarcasm and genuinely funny comments, Alison for her commitment to being the stressed out host up against impossible odds for a successful dinner, Nancy for perfectly nailing the role of the rebellious teenage daughter really leaning into her own personality, and Grandma Margo for the much needed balance she brings to the film. These are the main standouts from my perspective, but the rest of this insane ensemble ain’t all that far behind. They’re all as quirky and exhausting as they’re intended to be. For all the hubbub surrounding the essential book of family recipes, there’s more than enough silence at the time they’re eating to feel like Alison has somehow pulled off the impossible and satisfied them all with her cooking. Alison herself points out the major flaw in the whole design of these events in that it takes all damn day to make this stuff happen, and then it’s over after a few plates and mouthfuls. It seems disproportionate, if not outright unfair, and those putting in the effort rarely get the credit that they should. Like I’ve been tellin’ ya right from the get-go, none of this is worth participating in, ever. But it does make for some laughs if you're on the outside looking in. While it’s not quite as triggering as that episode of “The Bear” that examined the way-too-big family dinner scenario, it’s close enough for me. The laughs in “The Family Recipe” are decent…I’m not going to go as far as to say they’ll have you rolling on the ground, but the lighthearted approach was genuinely appreciated. The dramatic version of something like “The Family Recipe” wouldn’t be something I could handle, that I can tell ya. We often take traditions and the time we get to spend together for granted, and “The Family Recipe” ends up being a great reminder of that. Patience, kindness, and understanding - these are things that should be on every menu whenever you get together with your loved ones, and it was great to see Erikson’s film shift towards making that message central to this movie before it ended. As “The Family Recipe” finishes up and reveals the moral to this story, I really liked how realistic and relevant it was…it never felt preachy so much as it felt relatable instead. It’s cohesive, it’s enjoyable, it all feels like this story could happen to any one of us…I’m going with three and a half stars out of five. |
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