Instant Family is the kind of adoption film that should be shouted about

Sometimes all you can do is laugh. Watch the official trailer for the new comedy Instant Family, starring Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne

OPINION: They say you should always write what you know about, and from the heart.

But in Hollywood, that adage is hard to believe, given how cynical the product and marketing machine can be.

However, in Instant Family (in cinemas now), Hollywood has finally put a truth on screen that is often ignored, and buried by schmaltz and endless amounts of saccharine.

Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne's dramedy about a family who decide to adopt a trio of kids is perhaps the most truthful movie to explore and explode some of the myths of the agony and ecstasy of dealing with taking on kids from foster care. And for that reason alone, it deserves to be shouted about from the highest of rooftops.

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* Chronicle of displaced family

It's a surprise too, given that director Sean Anders who wrote this, was behind the worst film of the past decade, Daddy's Home 2.

A major Hollywood comedy with much heart, Instant Family's key to success lies in its unfiltered truth.
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
A major Hollywood comedy with much heart, Instant Family's key to success lies in its unfiltered truth.

But Anders has form in this discussion - he, along with his wife, went through the adoption process, and all its ups and downs.

As a result, Instant Family delivers humanity, empathy and pertinent understanding, while peppering the whole affair with the requisite laughs.

The makers are smart enough to know it's best to avoid the stereotypes around dealing with social workers, and avoid the kind of drivel like Adam Sandler's Blended and a myriad of other movies which belittle the harsh reality of bringing other kids into the fold.

Much like Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon drew deep from the well of personal experience for The Big Sick, Instant Family's vein of veracity comes from Anders' autobiographical input.

Instant Family deserves kudos for putting a face on adoption, so rarely seen in movies of this type, where the kids are usually portrayed as "kooky" and the system is a breeze.

Instant Family's commitment to a heart-breaking truth is to be duly applauded, with much of the movie doing a lot to break stereotypes.
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Instant Family's commitment to a heart-breaking truth is to be duly applauded, with much of the movie doing a lot to break stereotypes.

In the first third of the film, Instant Family's commitment to a heart-breaking truth is to be duly applauded, with much of the movie doing a lot to break stereotypes and introduce some kind of complexities to what actually transpires, as well as trying to open honest doors for others to consider.

Yet the filmmakers are smart enough to realise that to get the message across, they need the audience onside throughout - and not once do they fumble that ball.

It's rare - and heartening - to see such honesty in a broad studio product, and while Instant Family strays away from too much didacticism, its commitment to truth, punctuated with humour, is exceptionally commendable.

Elsewhere, there's honesty on show aplenty in smaller cinema release Eighth Grade, about a teen on the cusp of American high school. Riddled with acne, bathed in the constant fluorescent glow of phone or computer screen, Elsie Fisher's Kayla wears her awkward heart on her sleeve. But Eighth Grade is vérité rather than Napoleon Dynamite.

Less honesty is around in computer game Just Cause 4. The adventures of Rico Rodriguez as he takes on dictators were graced with cartoon zaniness in their third outing, but this latest feels joyless, bloated and broken.

IF YOU HAVE A MOMENT THIS WEEKEND

As a tortured teen at university, I once flirted with keeping a diary for a year.

Full of pointless thoughts, recollections of the day, and hopes and opinions for the following weeks, my writings were as rambling and borderline delusional as they've ever been.

Ever since then, the idea of a diary - secret or otherwise - has seemed painful and futile.

But an Auckland-based company has changed my perception of diaries and also made them fun and social, as well as tapping into my love of film.

Letterboxd was founded in October 2011 by by Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow and is billed a social networking service for films. Maintained by a small team out of the City of Sails, the site's USP is that it allows people to review and rate films - be they directors or general punters. 

Occasionally, people use the reviews section to toss out pithy one-liners and seek approval (guilty as charged, your honour), but at a wider level, the crowd-sourcing site's used by other directors to review films and proves to be a fascinating insight into the dichotomy of films, how filmmakers work and rate their peers. 

It's just published its Letterboxd annual year in review for 2018, after crunching the numbers and the data while you've been sunning yourself. (One suspects there may be algorithms and automation involved, but given the passion of those who started it, I can't exactly discount the fact they may have been sat in front of computers tallying things up).

From the basics like what the highest rated film was to the trend in movie posters (reds and oranges are the preferred poster of choice), the report's a fun look at what comes from keeping a movie diary.

So maybe spend some time seeing what the worst was, and then sign up for a free account to keep track of what you watch. Quoted by stars as the site they use to read reviews of their own projects, this is one community that's rarely touched by toxicity and one social network that I'm proud to be a part of.

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