People Like Us

      People Like Us (2012) is a very interesting movie dealing with family secrets.  I have yet to see a movie that shows how keeping secrets is a good thing. Family secrets only lead to more secrets and that is never good. Eventually these secrets will come to a head and generally it is bad timing and only causes more problems.  People Like Us is a good example of this.  It has been a while since I have seen a really good emotional drama. I think this one filled that void.  It is about a very dysfunctional family. Chris Pine (This Means War, Unstoppable, Just My Luck) plays Sam, a very crafty, talented, fast-talking salesman who is avoiding his family.  When he receives a message that his father has passed away he tries very hard to avoid returning home for the funeral. 

      When Sam’s girlfriend finally gets him home, which she doesn't accomplish until after the funeral is over, he is greeted by a very depressed and angry mother, played beautifully by Michelle Pfeiffer (LadyHawke, Batman Returns, Dangerous Minds, Stardust). The chemistry between Chris and Michelle is wonderful.  I could really feel their bond as mother and son. That is important to me in a family drama.  You have to buy into the relationships.  You have to really believe it. This movie did that well. 

      While settling his father’s estate Sam finds out about a half-sister he never knew he had and the son she is raising on her own.  His father wants him to give them some money and help take care of them.  He is very torn about what to do. The relationship between Sam, Fankie and Frankie’s son Josh is very well developed and beautifully portrayed. I really enjoyed the casting in this movie, everyone is amazing.  That being said I have to admit that Michael Hall D’Addario (John Adams, Little Spirit: Christmas in New York, Sinister) who plays Josh is brilliant. He steals every scene.  What a talented young man. 

     One of the fascinating things about People Like Us is the fact that it is loosely based on actual events. This is writer/director Alex Kurtzman’s (Fringe, New Day, Star Trek, Cowboys & Aliens) feature-film directorial debut. He met his sister when he was 30 years old. He knew that his father had another family but had never met them. When he started thinking about his half-sister and half-brother this image came to him – the last image of the movie. I don’t want to spoil it because it was a pretty neat scene. Alex said, “What you see is I think in many ways very autobiographical and in other ways there’s a lot of invention in there. But I certainly think there’s a lot of emotion and emotional truth for a lot of people in my family in there.”

      In the movie Sam’s father is a huge music producer named Jerry. Much of the music business memorabilia in the “Jerry’s Study” set belongs to co-writer Jody Lambert’s father Dennis Lambert. He is a Songwriter’s Hall of Fame nominee whose hits as writer and/or producer include “Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got)”, “Rhinestone Cowboy”, “Baby Come Back” and “Nightshift”. The set even includes photographs of Lambert himself and his actual Gold Records.

      This is a very dysfunctional family with deep rooted anger and regrets. The movie is about how you deal with that anger and those regrets.  How people react and the choices they make when the truth all comes out. In the end even with all of their flaws they truly love each other and that is really what's important.