The Family McMullen
Synopsis: A follow-up to the 1995 movie, The Brothers McMullen, which followed the love lives of three twenty-something Irish Catholic brothers. Now one of the brothers has family moving in with him while they sort their personal lives.
Ed Burns’ The Family McMullen is a follow-up on the lives of the McMullen brothers. Back in 1995 Barry (Ed Burns), Patrick (Mike McGlone) and Jack (Jack Mulcahy) were living in Long Island, New York. The men were working out their identities and romantic goals. Burns shot the movie, The Brothers McMullen, at his parents’ Valley Stream home on the island for just 25K. It launched his career as an indie filmmaker and Hollywood actor.
Thirty years later Burns is revisiting the family. Barry has a commodious house in Brooklyn. This is convenient for the twice-divorced Barry’s kids, Patricia (Halston Sage) and Tommy (Pico Alexander) because they both need a place to live. Barry’s brother Patrick (Mike McGlone) has just moved in too, after splitting with his wife. And Patrick? He died– not the actor who played him, fortunately. Patrick’s widow Molly is here though, the fantastic Connie Britton.
Barry is hosting Thanksgiving. He’s not looking forward to his lawyer daughter Patricia bringing her WASPy lawyer boyfriend Terrence Joseph. Barry can’t get over the guy’s name; he thinks his daughter should be with a blue-collar guy with a more palatable name, along the lines of Bobby or Mikey.
High-strung perfectionist Patricia inadvertently ruins Thanksgiving by announcing her engagement. Or rather, her family’s reaction spoils the occasion. Her brother Tommy doesn’t believe in love. Barry and Aunt Molly say that Patricia and Terrence Joseph shouldn’t be in a rush to make a life-long commitment. And, you know, her dad doesn’t like the guy’s name.
When TJ, as Barry insists on calling him, and fiancée Patricia get back to their apartment, he says: Your family is right. We should date around for a while.
So, yeah, it’s only fair that Barry should have to put up with the fallout. “It’s been two weeks!” Barry says wearily about his daughter not being over her failed engagement. Patricia juggles bouts of shrieking about her breakup with staying in bed, missing work. Somehow, I don’t think that the partners at her law firm would be sympathetic about her absences. But this is a movie, so it’s enough to be assigned a job and never actually be there.
Meanwhile, son Tommy tells his dad that he’s quitting his job and giving up his apartment. He explains that he never really liked tech work and maybe he’ll become an actor. Tommy likes to recite movie lines, so I guess he figures that’s good enough reason to plunge into thespianism. Mind you, we don’t see him so much as check his phone for any open auditions. He is too busy at bars, nursing a beer and scouting out the women.
Shortly after T-giving Tommy’s at a neighborhood bar. He sets his sights on a pretty woman, Karen (Juliana Canfield), who has just broken up with her boyfriend. She scowls at him when he hits on her at the bar, but he has enough game to get her cell phone number.
And what does Barry make of his family’s house occupation? He’s quick to dispense his no-nonsense advice and to good-naturedly complain about his new situation. “Why,” Barry asks “is everything that happens in this house my fault?”
Well, he is kind of a hustler. Or at least a middle-aged downstate sort of hustler, non-criminal type. Say there is an attractive woman with whom he should definitely not sleep with because it will cause complications? Yup, he’ll have sex with her. His devout brother counsels Christian virtue to navigate life? Barry rolls his eyes and grouses Jesus! or Holy Shit.
As the McMullens get closer to Christmas, everyone’s love life gets more complicated. In the case of Molly, it is probably for the best that she checks out some dating apps instead of pestering her niece Patricia to get out there and start hooking up. Molly tells Patricia that she didn’t hear any noise when her bedroom was across from her and Terrence Joseph when they shared accommodations on vacay. Aunt Molly tells Patricia that she needs to have loud sex with somebody. “If it’s not loud, it’s not fun,” she informs her mortified niece.
Tommy and Karen spend all of their time together, sexing and dancing. But they tell each other: I don’t want anything serious. But they do. Maybe it’s the romance of Jersey City standing in for Brooklyn that is casting a spell.
Barry’s goal seems to be to get everybody out of the house. Or so he says. But we can see that he enjoys checking in with, as Barry calls them, Tommy “Terrible” and Patty “Perfect.” And maybe, because it’s almost Christmas, Tommy will get a little less terrible and Patty will be a little less perfect. And when Barry insists on meeting Karen’s mom, Nina? Expect sparks because she’s played by Tracee Ellis Ross giving off a confident and fun energy.
So… The Family McMullen could be slotted into a holiday rom-com spot. I give these movies an easy time because I just expect them to have heart, with some humorous dialog within the humdrum plots. And leads with chemistry. Location and decoration help too.
However, I have to categorize The Family McMullen as a dramedy because, as I’m sure he would expect, Ed Burns strives to be a serious filmmaker putting out quality material.
I have a soft spot for New York filmmakers and their stories of New Yorkers. Burns has explored this territory in She’s the One, Sidewalks of New York, Newlyweds and Millers in Marriage. But…
When compared to the work of other dramedy-ists like Nicole Holofcener (Lovely and Amazing), Alexander Payne (The Descendants), Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) and David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook), Burns’ oeuvre doesn’t stand out.
I’ll give Burns credit for punching up his screenplays with jokes, but with thirty years to create a follow-up, I was hoping for a richer film.
P.S. I asked my friend C to weigh in on The Family McMullen, since she shares Burns’ hometown. I thought she’d be charitable, but she declared: I expect more from fellow Long Islanders. Harsh!
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