FAMILY WEEKEND
US, 2013, 105 minutes, Colour.
Kristin Chenoweth, Matthew Modine, Olesya Rulin, Joey King, Shirley Jones, Eddie Hassall, Chloe Bridges, Adam Saunders, Robbie Tucker.
Directed by Benjamin Epps.
Family Weekend seems something like an extended pilot for a television show about a dysfunctional family.
The focus of attention is on Emily (Olesia Rulin) who is an obsessive about neatness, punctuality, her sport of rope-jumping at which she excels. She has made notes for her parents to attend the sport but everybody has an excuse. When she arranges a dinner, she drugs her parents, ties them up and submits them to a course on better parenting. She involves her brothers and sister in the interrogation, the older brother (who pretends to be gay in order to get his parents attention) makes a documentary of the process, the sister, who is in love with movies, especially Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver, is put in charge, while the younger brother has a capacity to remember and to be able to quote statements from the parents which condemn them.
The proceedings are rather farcical but entered into with zest by the cast.
The message is rather obvious that parents should not be so preoccupied with themselves and their jobs that they neglect their children and that the children need love and attention.
It all ends well even if our heroine is taking control of classes in a juvenile correction facility.
1. A comedy about a family – a comedy for a family?
2. The Michigan settings, the town, the school, the athletics, homes, the police? Musical score?
3. The irony of the title? Emily and the family, the setup, the effects?
4. The story like a pilot for a television series? The characters, real with the touch of caricature, interactions, crises, the over-heated action, police intervention? But a happy ending?
5. The focus on Emily, obsessive, her rope-jumping, practice, her slips around the house for her family? At school? Alone in the cafeteria? The way people reacted to her? The competition, her family’s absence, her neighbour and her smart retorts, driving her home?
6. Emily contacting each member of the family about their absence: Lucy and her preoccupation with movies, trying to be Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver? Mikey, young, his ability to memorise everything? Jackson, his room, the gay touches, his wanting to make films, his commercials? Duncan, the artist, not completing his work, self-preoccupied, against competitive sport, vegan? Samantha, business, arriving home, continual talk on the phone, deals? Emily and her exasperation? The grandmother and helping, Samantha's antagonism, her return to help?
7. Emily arranging the dinner, forcing everybody to sit at the meal, the interactions? The drugged wine? Tying up her parents? The project, her notes, the speeded up camera work for her exercise practice, consulting the books and references? With the parents, taking them through the questions, their getting the answers wrong? Gagging them?
8. Persuading Jackson, wanting to be called Thor, to film it all and make a documentary, his enthusiasm? His being exposed as not being gay, but feeling that this was the only way to get his parents to pay attention to him? Lucy and her liking being in control? Mikey and his giving the information and quotes?
9. Ricky and his arrival, implications for Samantha, his being hit on the head, tied up, hidden in the room, getting the pill from Lucy, being high, his performance in front of the police, saying there was no relationship with Samantha, getting away?
10. Kat arriving home, the glamorous touch, observation, her phone, putting the video on the net?
11. Duncan and Samantha and their trying to do deals? Emily and her plea for them to be normal people? The arrival of the police, the parents covering up,
the smooth talk with the police, their perseverance, Ricky’s intervention?
12. The young journalist, injuring Emily, photographing, giving of the DVD, arrival at the home, the wrong times, his turning up again, the family pretending to watch the DVD?
13. Emily going to school, preparing for the competition, her amazement that her parents turned up? Her being arrested, in the correctional facility, training the other inmates?
14. The farcical touches – but the real message about family?
