Josh Radnor as Graham and Becky Ann Baker as Sue in All Happy Families
All Happy Families opens with the opening line of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina: “All happy families are alike. Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” The accuracy of that statement comes fully into focus in this family dramedy from director Haroula Rose (Once Upon a River). The emotional ups and downs that the Landrys are put through will likely give you pangs of familiarity, even if the particulars of their situation are entirely their own.
Graham (Josh Radnor, best known as Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother) is in a rut, a wannabe screenwriter and actor desperate to break into the biz but stuck instead in the shadow of his brother Will (Rob Huebel, Children’s Hospital), who stars in a beloved teen-focused TV drama (he plays the wise, loving dad). Years ago, Will bought the family house that he and Graham grew up in; Graham lives in the upstairs rent-free as the “landlord” for the downstairs unit he’s supposed to be prepping to rent out, but instead he mostly just smokes weed and, well, that’s about it. That all changes when his college crush Dana (Chandra Russell, South Side) shows up to look at the apartment. She needs to move in quick, and Graham desperately wants her to do so, so Graham’s well-meaning parents—Sue (Becky Ann Baker, who’s had quite a career playing the mom of neurotic characters on shows ranging from Girls to Ted Lasso) and Roy (John Ashton, Beverly Hills Cop)—volunteer to help get all the needed repairs and repainting done in a weekend so Dana can move in. But Graham’s parents have their own problems: Sue just retired after decades working for a skeevy boss, but due to Roy’s gambling habits they’re already feeling the pinch and Roy has already hit up his rich actor son Will for money. Shortly before Sue and Roy are set to arrive, Will shows up at the house unannounced and acting suspicious, planning to stay (in the building that he owns, to be fair) for an undetermined amount of time, and thus potentially scuttling Graham’s masterplan. Suddenly, the entire family finds themselves stuck under the same roof for the first time in way too long. It doesn’t take long for all manner of long-simmering issues to reach their boiling point.
In a lot of ways, All Happy Families feels a lot like a peak TV dramedy, the kind of understated, funny-yet-grounded series with a large, recognizable ensemble cast that you might find airing on, say, FX. And all of the above is what makes it an appealing watch: this is a story about a family that feels familiar and relatable, where everyone is charmingly dysfunctional in a way that stirs up drama but that still makes them fun to hang around, with comedy that’s character-driven rather than plot- or joke-driven, and thankfully devoid of cringe comedy. The entire main ensemble is on point, with impeccable comedic timing while still having the emotional chops to make the film’s dramatic side land. Radnor is particularly great here—his Graham is cutting and sarcastic and neurotic and caring and scared of failure and even more scared of success, and Radnor captures all of that while still personifying that quintessential Gen X duality of caring very deeply while simultaneously feeling like you’re not allowed to show that you care at all. If All Happy Families is viewed as just Graham’s coming-of-age-two-decades-too-late-but-hey-better-late-than-never, then Radnor really makes it work.
And yet, as you can tell from my lengthy plot synopsis above, it’s also a lot more than that. I mentioned the TV series vibe earlier. However, this is a film and not a TV series, and director/co-writer Rose struggles a bit in getting it all to fit into a brisk 90-minute runtime. All five members of the main cast have their own independent motivations and subplots to develop, including several tangents that I couldn’t find room to fit in the above plot synopsis (which is already a full 300 words long!). That is just a lot of plates to keep spinning, and while none of them come crashing down in a way that ruins the film’s forward momentum, several of them don’t resolve in a full, satisfying manner. Graham is the ostensible main character and fortunately his arc does come in for a satisfying landing, which goes a long way in making the overall viewing experience satisfying as well. Still, I was left wishing that Dana had a bit more time onscreen to develop, and that Will’s arc had a more definitive end—he just kind of disappears, and while his issues with his family are generally resolved, we’re left knowing that he’ll face other repercussions that we’ll never see, which is mildly frustrating. And Baker and Ashton are so good that I’d take any additional time with Sue and Roy that Rose would be willing to give me.
Still, “I like these characters so much that I wish I got to spend more time with them” is pretty minor as far as quibbles go. With characters this well-realized and performances this strong, All Happy Families offers more than enough to still recommend it. | Jason Green
All Happy Families is available to rent digitally on YouTube, Fandango At Home, Apple TV, Google Play, and Amazon Prime Video. It will also be available on DVD on November 19.
