‘A Family Affair’ VOD Review
Stars: Joe Wilkinson, Laura Aikman, Jane Asher | Written and Directed by Warren Fischer
I always like to give British comedy a go because, in amongst plenty of poor shows and films has been a whole lot of great stuff. British comedy often feels a little bit different from many other countries, so with A Family Affair and debut writer and director Warren Fischer, I was hoping for the new British comedy director to take the World by storm. The story goes like this:
“A cash-strapped hotel manager (Joe Wilkinson) is forced to stave off interest from wealthy buyers at a public auction whilst hosting his in-laws on their wedding anniversary.”
I was also glad to see Joe Wilkinson on the cast list, and he does indeed play one of the main roles as Edward. After previously enjoying his work on Him and Her, and Ricky Gervais’ Derek and After Life, I was looking forward to seeing how he performs again. And he is very good. It’s a more straight role than you might expect from him but he still has comedy moments. He has that sort of natural charisma and comedic timing that means even when he’s playing things straight, it can still get a giggle out of the viewer when needed.
The rest of the cast are enjoyable enough (Laura Aikman as Edward’s wife is probably the other stand out) but there’s just not enough funny moments in what is supposed to be a comedy movie. Often the laugh is an attempted easy or obvious one and it generally falls a bit flat.
The director clearly wanted A Family Affair to have heart to but there’s never enough time given to the characters or their history to care enough about what they’re going through. The best moment of the movie could have been even better if this was the case. The bonding moment between Edward (Wiliknson) and his father while they talk about spreading the ashes of Edward’s mother (and his father’s wife). It is actually a really nice moment but I think it’s the two actors that get it through that – and the script then provides its funniest moment. But, if we had heard more about the history between the two characters, I believe the viewer would have cared more.
The film almost plays out like an anthology movie of sorts, where they try to tell several characters story in a short amount of time all while they are present at the hotel/retreat over the course of a day. And I kind of like that idea but the focus moves from one character to another very quickly, showing glimpses of things that usually don’t grab your interest.
The film looks good, and is shot nice enough but it just doesn’t have enough of the two things it really wants and needs – heart and comedy. This type of movie without a heavy dose of each struggles to entertain and that’s the case with A Family Affair. An easy-going comedy that barely gets going.
A Family Affair is available to own or rent from all major digital platforms in the UK & Ireland now.
