"Instant Family" brings Instant Laughter

I went to see the movie “Instant Family” this past weekend at the theatre. The movie was about Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne) a married couple with no kids who were looking to adopt a young child. When they meet rebellious teen Lizzy (Isabela Moner) they have an instant connection and decide to take in her, her younger brother, and little sister. This comedic movie is filled with drama and demonstrates the struggles and challenges that parents who are adopting face and the feelings that the children being adopted experience.

I saw this movie with my family and thought that it was a great movie to see with them. We got to laugh together and we also learned to value our family bond much more.

Parents, Pete and Ellie struggled a lot with the kids. At the beginning everything seemed so easy but eventually, the kids began to behave poorly and the young couple had a hard time parenting the children, this aspect of the movie was very realistic. It showed the conflicts between children and parents but some of the actions of the children and steps to the adoption seemed unrealistic. All teenagers are rebellious but the things that Lizzy did seemed somewhat over the top.

Overall, I thought the acting was well done and I loved Mark Wahlberg's character, Pete. He bonded with the children easily and was the “good cop” and I found it interesting to watch him become so close to the kids. There were no characters who had poor acting or didn’t play their role well, in my opinion.

Ultimately, this is a good movie for families to go see together but it is directed more towards young adults and parents. If you are taking a younger child with you, there can be some inappropriate language but the message is valuable. The movie is a perfect length and I found every scene to be important to the plot.