The Family Fang (2016) Review!!

Synopsis – A brother and sister return to their family home in search of their world famous parents who have disappeared.

My Take – Its hard not to like Jason Bateman (Zootopia, Horrible Bosses, The Gift), the actor has been a treat to watch even in some of the worst comedies (Identity Thief, The Change-Up) ever made, however in recent years he has proved himself well grounded in dramatic roles as well. Hence with his second directorial after the mildly likable Bad Words, it seems he is out to tag himself as an outstanding director as well. I’m so glad I knew nothing about this film before I saw it — I have not read the bestselling novel of the same name by Kevin Wilson that is it based on — except that it stars Bateman and Nicole Kidman as siblings which was quite enough to get me intrigued. Luckily, the film swoops in, mind I say excellently, great ideas about the ways all families lie to their children, and what it means to live with people you can never take seriously. Despite comic tropes, It’s not funny in a way that makes you laugh out loud, but funny in a way that makes you uncomfortable. That is a place that few movies dare to go. While the films shows how the children grow up affected by their artistic parents, it can be termed different in comparison to other films as it also takes us into the mind of a celebrity and how they stage things and work their way to do anything to make art/acting look so real. It was was beautifully done, but definitely not for the faint of heart. The story follows the Fangs, a notorious avant-garde art family, who before Prank Patrol, Kickass, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and (modern) Candid Camera, the young couple Caleb Fang (Jason Butler Harner) and Camille Fang (Kathryn Hahn) were “creating living art” by pulling the most outrageous of mischiefs on the unsuspecting public and, once the children Baxter and Annie arrived, included them in the shenanigans. However the kids grow up and decide to go their separate ways and back away from their parents “celebrity” lifestyle. In present times, Baxter (Jason Bateman) is a depressed novelist who takes crummy magazine writing jobs to pay the bills.

Annie (Nicole Kidman) is a Hollywood actress whose career is on the skids. Even though they hardly see their parents, they live in their shadows, desperate for their approval. When Baxter meets with an accident, the now older parents (Christopher Walken and Maryann Plunkett) make plans for a reunion. The siblings think it’s a good idea and meet up with them. After a huge falling out with their parents officers arrive at the door saying their parents have died. Is it another hoax or is it for real? The police and Baxter suspect foul play, but Annie thinks their parents are staging one last, massive prank, forcing their grown children into playing a part again. As stated above, the film is quite different from anything else seen this year. The films opens with a sequence that is one of the most provocative introductions to a anything I’ve ever seen. I am not going to tell you what it entails, not even in the barest outlines, because watching it unfold and feeling wonderfully bewildered at where it goes is a truly rare pleasure in a cinematic environment clogged with cookie-cutter films. And once it’s over, you’re left with an even more delicious sense of having absolutely no idea what sort of story this is setting up. Filled with fun, drama, mystery, bizarreness and psycho analytical social commentary this peculiar little gem seems to have slipped under the radar of most viewers which is very unfortunate. With a twist that M.Night Shyamalan would be proud of, The “Kill Parents” song is worth the price of admission alone. It begs the question “what is art” but, more importantly, why are people so stupid that they don’t get it. The film mainly gains points for being strikingly original. The unsubtle line drawn relationship between adult opposite-gender siblings as unwavering support for but also essential challenge to each other, which is something we see rarely see on onscreen, is probably the most conventional thing about this film, and there’s nothing conventional about it. Their warm but contentious relationship is the box out of which emerges a tale of the existential crisis of a whole family, but not in any way you’ve seen before, one that explores the boundaries between being true to oneself and being a selfish bastard when other people need you. It asks how much you may reasonably draw on other people as the inspiration for your art.

Working from a screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole) based on Kevin Wilson’s novel, the film deftly moves back and forth in time, salting the film with flashbacks of the Fangs’ elaborate family pranks. Even though the stunts pulled in the film may seem like goofy fun, director Bateman deliberately opts to portray its effects in a more restrained, downbeat tone, with more drama than comedy. It’s clear that Annie and Baxter suffered deep, lasting trauma under the control of a father who, despite his claims of being a radical thinker and a free spirit, was just as controlling and emotionally abusive as the traditional variety of bad father. The film is brimming with big ideas about art, expression, authenticity and family, which Bateman weaves seamlessly into a well paced plot, where even flashbacks feel not like diversions, but perfect reveals. Jason Bateman may not be an especially cinematic director yet, but he sure knows how to capture performances, even if he’s just letting his actors do their own thing. Christopher Walken is a standout as the art obsessed patriarch, mercilessly indifferent to his family but still somewhat empathetic in his lofty artistic endeavours. Jason Bateman’s character is almost a sideline but never the less, an important aspect in rounding out the story. Maryann Plunkett as the long suffering but also co-conspiring mum plays her part effortlessly. Intriguing and unexplained are her motives. Jason Butler Harner and Kathryn Hahn are excellent as their younger counterparts. Nicole Kidman seems to parodying herself here. Her Annie is terrific on her own especially in some early scenes on the set of a film and then in conversation with a journalist, but she seems woefully out of place with the Fangs, and not just because Kidman struggles to conceal her Aussie accent. She and Bateman are fine together, but her detachment detracts from the emotional core of this relationship. On the whole, ‘The Family Fang’ is a funny, mysterious and a thought provoking drama which displays how a family can make and break oneself.