By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Anne Renton
Starring: Elizabeth Peña | Emily Deschanel | Jason Ritter | Kathleen Turner | Richard Chamberlain
Country: united_states
Year: 2011
Running time: 84
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1650058/
Chris says: “For film festivals from Cannes to Toronto, it’s usually a safe bet that the opening night film will not be the fest’s pick of the litter. Those selected for the Provincetown International Film Festival (now in its 13th year) have ranged from pleasantly respectable (LA VIE EN ROSE) to WTF awful (Madonna’s directorial debut, anyone?)
“PIFF 2011 opener THE PERFECT FAMILY falls somewhere in the middle. It’s not going to win any major awards–I’m unsure as to how wide a theatrical release it will get later this year–but it deserves more than straight-to-video purgatory. The real draw is an extremely likable performance from Kathleen Turner (a past PIFF honoree who produced the film and also attended the screening). She plays a small town New Jersey housewife who spends much of her time volunteering at her Catholic church–so much that she’s nominated for ‘Catholic Woman of the Year.’ The problem is, in order to win the title (and receive special absolution for all her sins!), she needs to show how devout and, well, perfect her family is; it’s not an easy task given that her husband’s an ex-alcoholic, her daughter (Emily Deschanel) is about to come out as a lesbian and her son (Jason Ritter) has just left his wife and taken up with a younger, sexier manicurist.
“It’s a premise rife with potential for broad, lowbrow satire, but first-time director Anne Renton mostly skirts it in favor of a gentler approach that lurches between droll humor, serious drama and the occasional sight gag (such as Turner donning a tacky tracksuit). Consequently, the tone and pacing is a little off at times, as if Renton is content to let her actors carry the narrative by presence alone. Fortunately, Turner is fully up to task: in easily her best film role since Serial Mom, she carefully underplays what could have been caricature in a lesser, showier actress’ hands. The film also has a most perfect final scene–as long as you don’t watch the credits after it. 3 cats”