Directed by Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris

Ok, now this film has been out for a bit but I’ve only just got round to watching it.

There’s been loads of talk about it being a “hilarious comedy” and in part that’s true. Yet those of you expecting this to be another “Fish Called Wanda” will be left disappointed. What we have here is a quality character piece, well acted and backed up with a solid script.

The story centres on the typical dysfunctional family, a stressed mother, slightly over bearing father, swearing grand father, awkward teenage boy, suicidal uncle and charming little girl. Now if that doesn’t sound like a recipe for laughter then I don’t know what does!

It’s the usual tale of a family at odds with each other, over coming a common obstacle and finding out at the end that, “Hey you’re all right after all!”.

 But wait! There’s more to it than that, a lot more. Steve (American Office) Carell and Toni Collette head up a great cast that’s really able to flesh out the roles given to them. Special mention has to be made of Abigail Breslin as she really does steal the show. It’s always a bit worrying when a child is nominated for an Oscar but this time it’s truly deserved.

All in, it’s a strange film and definitely not going to be everyone’s cup of tea.

But if you’re looking for something a little bit left field, then there a lot of fun to be had.