Year of Release: 2018
Director: Andrew Fleming
Starring: Paul Rudd, Steve Coogan, Jack Gore, Alison Pill, Jake McDorman, Kate Walsh, Evan Bittencourt, Lora Martinez-Cunningham, Jesse Luken, Courtney Cunningham
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
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Synopsis and Review
Director Andrew Fleming's "Ideal Home" was a comeback to features for him since his previous film "Barefoot" was met with a tepid response, and most of his career has since then flourished across a variety of TV shows where he has worked either as director or writer, or executive producer. "Ideal Home"'s narrative is focused on the lives of a gay couple currently living in New Mexico. The couple features Erasmus, a famous chef who has his own TV show, books and additional merchandise, and Paul, who is the supervising producer of his show. While Erasmus is a more high profile personality, Paul tends to be more authoritative and a bit quieter than his partner. Their lives are suddenly upended when a young boy by the name of Angel shows up at their door. He's in reality Erasmus's grandson. Erasmus has a son by the name of Beau who has had issues with drugs, and who finds himself once more behind bars. Angel, who wants to be named Bill, finds himself having to live with two strangers, with Paul in particular very reluctantly accepting the situation, since he suspects he will take on the brunt of the responsibility of caring for him. As the three of them get to learn to live with each other and eventually gel in their habits, the couple also starts discussing an opportunity to take Angel/Bill's care on a more permanent basis.
"Ideal Home" is a slight and filled with just the right dosage of sentiment comedy, which features two fantastically gifted performers, who truly manage to keep the focus on the characters, even if the narrative itself is somewhat barely there. It's a superficially observed narrative, but one that nonetheless focuses on the dynamics of a couple who has been together for a while, where one of the people in the relationship carries the emotional heft of it for the both parties. The strain the relationship between the charismatic and selfish Erasmus and the slightly dour and more emotional Paul is going through, is further amplified with the presence of Angel/Bill, but in the end, it forces both of them to come to grips with what is it they really want out of life and of each other. It's a film filled with humorous and sweet episodes, at times relying a bit too much on clichés, but entertaining nonetheless thanks to the performances of Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan, who perfectly embody those character with the right amount of flamboyance, humor and sentiment. The supporting cast sadly only gets a brief window to make themselves visible, but Jack Gore and Alison Pill manage to create interesting characters nonetheless. The production team features the solid cinematography from Alexander Gruszynski, and score from John Swihart. While not the most arresting narrative, it still makes for an enjoyable watching experience.
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