This Family (2006) Should Be Seen But Not Heard
Visually arresting, Family is the story of a man (Boyd Kestner), a woman (Renee Humphrey), and a ten-year-old boy (Tanner Richie). The woman has just been paroled, and we meet her during the commission of a robbery in which she’s bound and gagged an elderly man on oxygen and a younger woman. Her treatment of the victims and behavior when she learns they have no money leads the viewer to hope she gets what she deserves, and believe she deserves whatever she gets. (Note to prospective robbers: when you enter a house that has box fans instead of air conditioners, don’t expect millions to be hidden under the mattress.)
After failing to get any friends or family to send her some cash, and scamming a cashier at a convenience store out of a few bucks, she manages to get a lift from a classical music and opera-loving ex-cop and his son who are taking an aimless road trip to discover America, the real America. She discovers a load of cash and the man’s NOLA PD I.D. in the trunk, and clearly has designs on the money. Somehow that prison rehabilitation thing didn’t work for her.
When the woman and the little boy are alone in the car, he tells her that the man is not his father but a stranger who picked him up at his school. Is he telling the truth?
Sadly, the quality of the acting does not measure up to the level of the cinematography. As the trio travels across landscapes, the man talks…and talks and talks and talks. Conversely, we appreciate Tanner Richie’s performance—as the boy, he has few lines. Although the characters are somewhat enigmatic, it’s not enough to keep our interest, even though we suspect that there are going to be plot twists (even a few we haven’t figured out long before they happen). The story builds slowly, and though we eventually learn that the man is a psycho and expect an explosive ending, only the most patient among us will stick around for it. (Released: June 21, 2011.)
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