This could have been a fun family film, but the script was so trite, the dialogue so on the nose, and the characters so banal.
Redemptive storytelling doesn't mean you have to make every dad an idiot, every mother helpless, and every child a smart-mouthed, disrespectful brat. The parents were so thinly drawn, that I didn't care about their journey at all. The filmmakers had great talent from which they could have drawn out superb performances, but instead, they were pigeon-holed into canned characters we can't root for.
The uncle speaks 100 words of English, and yet the mom has these long conversations with him and he claims to understand. The language barrier could have been used for so many wonderful moments, but no, just gloss over because we'll excuse the fact that it would have existed in any real world.
The only redeeming quality of the story is the connection Uncle Nino has with the children. It's wholesome and sweet.
Redemptive storytelling doesn't mean you have to make every dad an idiot, every mother helpless, and every child a smart-mouthed, disrespectful brat. The parents were so thinly drawn, that I didn't care about their journey at all. The filmmakers had great talent from which they could have drawn out superb performances, but instead, they were pigeon-holed into canned characters we can't root for.
The uncle speaks 100 words of English, and yet the mom has these long conversations with him and he claims to understand. The language barrier could have been used for so many wonderful moments, but no, just gloss over because we'll excuse the fact that it would have existed in any real world.
The only redeeming quality of the story is the connection Uncle Nino has with the children. It's wholesome and sweet.