Last night, The Perfect Family a film by director Anne Renton had its world premiere at the tenth annual Tribeca Film Festival. Whether it was by divine chance or incredible planning, the film, a story about a devout Catholic woman, made its world premiere on Easter Sunday. The film, starring Kathleen Turner, Richard Chamberlain, Emily Deschanel, Jason Ritter, and Michael McGrady, revolves around a family that appears to be perfect; however, when further dissected through the circumstances of the film, we learn that is not the case, or is it?
Turner plays Eileen Cleary, a woman who has been nominated for Catholic Woman of the Year, against her arch nemesis played to perfection by Sharon Lawrence. One of the stipulations to being considered the recipient of such a prestigious award is to have the bishop of the parish come and meet your family. What Turner hides is a lesbian daughter (Deschanel) who is marrying her lover of six years, a son (Ritter) who is cheating on his wife with the town manicurist, and a husband (McGrady) who is a recovering alcoholic. What ensues is a hilarious and yet touching journey of one woman trying to stay true to her beliefs and still be able to embrace the ever changing world around her.
The script written by Paula Goldberg and Claire V. Riley is extremely funny with one liners like, "I don't have to think I'm Catholic", and in reference to her lesbian daughter watching a soccer game, "she shouldn't have balls flying at her". The words come effortless to the actors and sneak up on the audience in a way that brings the viewers back to Earth while going on what seems to be a ridiculous ride that could only happen in the movies and never in real life; however, the message is all too real and that's what makes the film so exciting: this situation would never happen in real life, but we all belong to this family. We all have the relative we don't speak about, or the brother who has ruined his life, or the father or mother who has a problem with addiction or is a fanatic about one religious belief or another. The film possesses strong, well rounded characters that could very well be sitting at our own Passover or Easter table. It's this element that makes The Perfect Family the perfect film to watch in order to gain a sense of pride for our own families no matter how imperfect they may be.
A brief Q&A followed the screening with the film's stars (except Ritter and Deschanel who were working in Los Angeles and could not make the premiere), the writers, and the director. Many of the questions revolved around preparations for the various roles, the idea of Catholic Woman of the Year being an actual award and the dramatic licenses taken in the film, but the best question came from a man who asked Anne Renton if the film questioned her own beliefs to which Kathleen Turner responded with, "None of your f*****g business." A film that not only stirs up questions of privacy for the audience, but for the film's stars as well makes this a must see at the festival this year.
The Perfect Family has three more showings this week at the AMC Loews Village Tuesday, April 26 at 7 PM, Wednesday, April 27 at 5:30 PM, and Friday, April 29 at 9:00 PM. All showings are only offering rush tickets and more information on the theatre and the ticketing process can be found by going to www.tribecafilm.com.
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