All Happy Families
In ‘All Happy Families’, the highly charged renditions from an exquisite cast surmount the cliches and the rather disorganized narrative of this production”s title. The title is a reference to the opening line of the novel Anna Karenina, which says that all happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. There is certainly nothing incorrect about describing the family that features in this story as happy because out of two adult sons and the parents of the Landry family, they are unhappy and irritate each other. This is not one of those heartbreaking family get togethers where everyone is soaking in resentment, grief and blame perhaps like “The Humans” or “August: Osage County.”
They may nuance some jealousy, disappointment, yet there is no edge of doubt that they have what all families need, at least they communicate with one another, act in a in a loving way, aspire for each other and are capable of lending a hand to each other, not really unhumane that they cannot even offer assistance. Well they may be willing to assist, though not very willingly. Rather, they are less inclined to assist and may be more ignorant than they ought to be. Generally though, the intentions are pretty positive.
The two adult sons include Graham (Josh Radnor) an average actor who wanted to write but who envies his brother successful Will (Rob Huebel) co-star of a celebrated series.
Will stars as the father of the teenage lead of the show. The ultra-reliable babysitter is Sue (Becky Ann Baker, so good she nearly steals the film) and Roy (John Ashton) plays her husband. Sue is preparing to retire from her job as an executive like assistant, the one that actually manages the office, and the irresponsible Roy is a chronic alcoholic as well as a gambler. At the party that her colleagues throw for her, Sue claims that because she has had to suffer with either her boss or husband for so many years, it was only fair that someone had to go. Behind the sour note, Roy complains bitterly that she cracks that ‘joke’ far too often.
Will who is the most economically stable among the three possess the family’s now-duplex residential home built with Willits Architects. The half that Graham lives there, including the half that must be leased out. Sue and Roy stop in to furnish the new tenant’s apartment. The first scene introduces a problem that Graham is yet to deal with Antoine McKay plays the sympathetic plumber whose camera shows a picture of a dead rat down the drain pipe in the house as well as worse still images.
What follows is an incredibly inept allegory: the house stands for the family’s inability to confront the real problems that lie beneath the surface while they seem to busy themselves with the superficial.
This also signifies the fact that the family cannot disengage, for Graham is still in his childhood bedroom while both bearing envy and dependence on Will as his tenant and as a potential resource to pitch Graham’s script to the series’ showrunners. That script has Will’s character off screen for the whole episode, which’s not a stretch to label hostile towards Will or us.
Several ambitious transformations await the family, and Sue’s retirement is clearly one of them. The new tenant in the duplex is Dana (Chandra Russell), an old schoolfriend of Graham’s. While we are not given the specifics of their history, it is obvious that they have strong feelings for each other which are enough to rouse Graham from his stupor. Will’s career is put at risk because of claims of an inappropriate act or behavior. He is in need of isolating himself in the house for a while. Sue feels uncomfortable with her ex boss who fondled her during her retirement party and still pursues her. A different family member (Ivy O’Brien) comes in unannounced, recently come out as transgender giving us the first glance of the family’s mildly satisfying self: their flaws. The moment between Ivy and Sue, her grandma, is especially warm.
Haroula Rose, the director, who co writes the movie with Coburn Goss, shoots the film in a relaxed and organic manner. The performers, Baker in particular, manage to deepen the characters so as to engage and win our hearts and make us rethink Tolstoy there is more to being a blissful family than just one.
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