Look at foster parenting both funny and touching
“Instant Family,” a disarmingly effective dramedy about a couple who become foster parents, does a tricky tap dance: It’s often cutesy, in the way of “The Brady Bunch,” and yet it’s not afraid to wade into some complex territory about foster care. This is a funny-serious, family-friendly movie about a weighty subject, and somehow it works.
Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne) are wellto-do house flippers who have everything they want — almost. One day, Pete jokes that because they are both slightly older now, they should just go out and adopt a young child so that they can make up for lost time. His flippant remark awakens something in Ellie, and before they know it, they are both eagerly training to be parents in the foster care system.
It’s clear that Pete and Ellie, despite their sincerity, have no idea what they are doing, and the uninitiated couple harbor doubts about whether to move forward. But when they meet the rebellious yet lovely spirit of 15-year-old Lizzy (Isabela Moner), they take the plunge, even though Lizzy arrives as a package deal with her two younger siblings, the supersensitive Juan and the whiny Lita.
Suffice it to say that the family honeymoon doesn’t last for long. Food begins flying, and Lizzy acts up at every chance — to the point where Pete and Ellie only half-jokingly consider returning the kids to the system. These moments, though exaggerated for comic effect, have a genuine feel about them.
Wahlberg and Byrne have the comic and dramatic chops to keep the parents engaging at all times. What’s more, there is an excellent ensemble of actors surrounding them (kudos to the casting director). Margo Martindale is hilarious as Grandma Sandy, who is just as feisty as Lizzy. Julie Hagerty scores some laughs as Ellie’s spacey mother, Jan. And in what could have been thankless roles, Octavia Spencer and Tig Notaro provide their share of dry wit as dedicated foster care counselors who seem to contradict each other every five seconds.
In the final scene, a cantankerous family judge seems to be speaking for director and co-writer Sean Anders when he confesses that he is something of a cornball, especially when the foster care system works. Some will quibble with Anders’ comic, sentimental approach to a gut-wrenching subject, yet his story is unquestionably coming from the heart: He doesn’t make foster parenting look easy, but he makes an emotionally compelling case that it’s a worthwhile endeavor.
David Lewis is a Bay Area freelance writer.