The title of Haroula Rose‘s family dramedy, All Happy Families is pulled from a line from Anna Karenina which says “All happy families are the same but every unhappy family is unhappy in it’s own unique way”. I never really liked the thought of that line. I mean, every happy family is definitely not the same and, honestly, I think there’s more variance in what makes a happy family then in what makes an unhappy one. Rose’s film really highlights just how different every family can be but also how it is the central emotions that rule those families which comes with a wide variance.
Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother) plays Graham, a wannabe actor and screenwriter who is currently managing/repairing the childhood home he bought with his brother Will (Rob Huebel). The film is really a case study in the compounded stresses of life that overlap and intertwine when family comes back together. Each member of the Landry family has their own baggage to bring to the party and Haroula Rose does a pretty damn impressive job of not giving one storyline the spotlight. Of course, as these films often do, an outside presence/view is needed, enter Dana (Chandra Russel), Graham’s old classmate/crush and new tenant to the familiy’s room for rent.
People like Josh Radnor….I think? I mean, I know that How I Met Your Mother was a huge hit (with a subpar finale), but I always got the feeling that Radnor was the star on paper but certainly not the fan favorite. Admittedly I never watched HIMYM, but will say that I absolutely loved his performance in the Nazi hunting series Hunters on Amazon Prime Video. There’s a realness and subtlety to his performance there that I see translated directly to his portrayal of Graham Landry. Radnor never over does it, honestly, his look does most of the work for him. Sporting a shaggy beard, scraggly hair, and constantly wrinkled clothes you immediately get the feel of someone who feels that they just aren’t going to get the best hand dealt to them. Still, past the look there’s a genuineness, a light in the eyes I suppose, that makes you second guess your first impression.
The Yang to his Yin in this film, Will who is played by the ever-amazing Rob Huebel, an actor that you definitely know even if it’s unlikely you know the name. Huebel’s over-abundance of confidence as the brother who is acting as Graham’s bridge to everything he wants. Whether that’s a simple place to stay in their childhood home or access to his dream of selling a script to Hollywood. This is where Huebel’s primary skill set comes into play. He’s always SO good at playing characters that are simultaneously egotistical douches and surprisingly caring. There’s never a doubt that Will loves his brother, which could have been hard to play.
I do think that Haroula Rose would have been benefitted from cutting down the story to maybe only two or three storylines as things do get a bit, not confusing, but maybe overly busy. The funny thing is though, that I think this was the purest way to tell the story. I mean, honestly, when you have five adults each with their own lives it’s going to get busy…ask anyone that’s been to a family Thanksgiving. While there’s alot going on it is nothing short of impressive how Rose manages to maintain a solid through line while still giving the proper due to each of the well-developed characters. She manages to fit in stories about envy, aging, loss, frustration, and even addiction all while not losing her audience. I think anyone that has a family with a similar structure will find it hard to not find something to relate to, something to make you smile.
All Happy Families is open in theaters now, digital and VOD on October 18th!
