Frannie

A young woman returns to her family home after a long absence and deals with her dysfunctional relatives.

After spending several years away from her family, Frannie (Emily Brolin) is asked to come back and help her mother (Dawn Brolin), who is going through difficult times. Frannie dislikes her relatives and is eager to leave. However, as time passes, she gets to know them better and begins to appreciate them more. And she also starts a relationship with Luke (Daugherty), a friendly neighbour.

This comedy drama takes a look into family values and the idea of finding a purpose in life. Frannie has unconventional family that includes her mother whose emotional state has gone downhill after her husband left a few months ago, her clumsy brother Teddy (O'Brien) and her uncle Rob (Novogrodski), who is a heavy drinker and spends a great deal of time on a sofa, on the house's lawn. As the story progresses, Frannie interacts more and more with her relatives and, although they have their differences, things between them improve as they begin to care for each other. The screenplay has funny and awkward moments, some adult humour, revelations and there are moving scenes and scenes of confrontation and reconciliation.

As the titular character, Emily Brolin delivers a strong performance a woman in her twenties who is estranged from her family and is at a point in her life where she does not know which would be the best choices for her. Her character is intelligent and strong and goes through significant character development throughout the story. Dawn Brolin also does a great job as her mother, who uses a megaphone as a means to let her emotions out.

Arnaud Drieu makes a wonderful contribution by developing music that is beautiful and dramatic and accompanies the scenes very effectively.

This feature is an emotional and humorous story that deals with family, reconciliation and self-discovery. It reveals the significance of having a caring family and the joys that come with that.