– By Cate Marquis-
Fine cast and focus on comedy lifts Krasinski’s THE HOLLARS
John Krasinski stars in and directs a first-rate cast in the family comedy THE HOLLARS. The film’s premise is familiar stuff, a man forced by a circumstances to return to his home town to deal with his goofy family, but it is the cast that transforms this standard stuff into comedic gold with a tear or two. That cast, includes Margo Martindale, Richard Jenkins, Sharlto Copley, Anna Kendrick and Krasinski himself, is what makes the difference, actors who are more often seen in supporting roles but who truly shine in this ensemble comedy about family who is transformed when mom falls ill.
John Hollar (Krasinski) is living and working in New York City, but is drifting in his career and life. His girlfriend Rebecca (Anna Kendrick) is pregnant but he seems unsure about parenthood. When Rebecca calls, he seems ready to dodge conversation. Instead, she turns up in his office to tell him his mother had been hospitalized and she has already booked his flight home – no dodging that.
Returning to his Midwestern hometown means John has to deal with the other Hollars, clueless dad Ron (Richard Jenkins) and loser brother Don (South African actor Sharlto Copley). Mom Sally Hollar (Margo Martindale) is the strong one in this family but she has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and is set to undergo surgery. Dad who discouraged his wife from seeing a doctor and sent her to Weight Watchers instead is now a tearful emotional mess and brother Don is bouncing off walls. Mom is depending on John to keep things under control and everyone together. John clearly is more like his dryly-funny, steady mom than either his dad or brother, and the two seem close.
Besides his emotional collapse at his wife’s illness, Dad’s business is failing, their savings are tapped out and the couple are on the verge of bankruptcy, all of which he is still hiding from his wife and children. Son Ron is divorced, explosive and living in his parents basement. He obsesses about his ex-wife Stacy’s (Ashley Dyke) boyfriend, their church’s youth minister, Reverend Dan (Josh Groban) and misses his two daughters. At the same time, John is sorting through his feelings about Rebecca and dealing with his high school sweetheart Gwen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who is now married to Sally Hollars nurse Jason (a goofy Charlie Day), who is consumed by jealousy.
Comedies have been mixing humor and tragedy since Chaplin and Keaton but Krasinski does it better than many recent similar family films by keeping the focus on humor and the sentiment in check, at least until late in the film. This is the kind of comedy that depends on familiar family dynamics that are pumped up for comic effect, but Krasinski keeps that funny by putting the emphasis on more reasonable and well-crafted comedy, avoiding both the over-the-top, loud and obvious stuff of mainstream family films and the densely odd and quirk of indie ones.
This talented cast is the key to that trick. These polished pros work beautifully together and it is a joy to watch them. The names may not be familiar to everyone but the faces likely are from their many supporting roles. Margo Martindale, who has played a number of sharp-tongued but likable matriarch parts, is perfect as mom Sally, keeping her sassy humor while her husband crumbles, although she is the one who is sick. Her scenes with Richard Jenkins, playing his familiar nervous type, are terrific but she really shines in the warm and knowing ones with Krasinski. Sharlto Copley, who played the lead in DISTRICT 9, the robot in CHAPPIE and a shape-shifting character in HARDCORE HENRY, keeps up his energetic style but buries his accent as goofy Don, who gets along with no one, least of all his emotional dad. These polished professionals squeeze every comic drop out of their individual and ensemble scenes.
THE HOLLARS is the kind of family dramedy one often seems around the winter holidays but unlike most of them, this one is actually funny and keeps the sentiment manageable. Sure there are the “aww” moments and some tears but they feel more real than many films of this type, despite the familiar story. For those who want a laugh-and-a-tear movie featuring some really great actors mining comic gold, THE HOLLARS is a good pick.
© Cate Marquis
