I’m a fan of Jason Bateman and when I saw The Family Fang, his second directed feature film, was playing at the Florida Film Festival I was determined to go. I knew very little about the film, but I generally enjoy Bateman in whatever he does so I figured it was worth a shot. It turns out that I absolutely loved this film and I’m placing it in the Must See rating.
The Family Fang overview
Baxter Fang (Bateman) and his sister Annie Fang (Nicole Kidman) return to their family home in search of their famous parents Caleb Fang (Christopher Walken) and Camille Fang (Maryann Plunkett). The family is all somewhat famous for these controversial art films the Fangs made while Baxter and Annie were children.
I was really impressed with Nicole Kidman in this film. I haven’t seen too many of hers, but she is really great in this film. Bateman also manages to bring in his famous wit while maintaining a dramatic tone in the film. The two play off each other perfectly and really build the story.
The old Fangs, Walken and Plunkett, are also great on screen, but the early footage of the Fangs has Kathryn Hahn playing Camille and Jason Butler Harner playing Caleb. Both sets of Fangs are really great and some of the art video projects are absolutely hysterical.
Bateman really seems to have grown a bit with his directing. There is a really great montage of Annie and Baxter making breakfast as they are trying to be normal despite their unorthodox upbringing. The overall camerawork in the film, with Ken Seng as Cinematographer, is really great with nice use of light and shadows.
One of my favorite scenes sees Bateman going to interview some people who are creating potato cannons. Bateman is a novelist suffering from writer’s block so any work was needed, but he doesn’t look thrilled about his topic. That is, until he shoots the canon himself and is enthralled. A quote from his parents that is a recurring motif in the film leads him to make some questionable choices in this situation and, keep spoilers, is what results with him reconnecting with his parents and sister.
I really loved this film and will be buying it for sure once its out. I loved so much of the film and from my seat it seemed everyone in the theater did as well. I’ve not read the book, but there was a book club sitting behind me and they seemed pretty happy with the adaptation. When you can see it you definitely should.
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