Just a few years ago, Jason Bateman delivered his directorial debut Bad Words, translating his knack for comedy and drama fairly well behind the camera. He’s now returned with The Family Fang, which follows the director playing a brother to Nicole Kidman‘s character, as they go on a search for their bizarre parents, which just might be yet another gag. Adapted by David Lindsay-Abaire (who worked with Kidman on Rabbit Hole) from Kevin Wilson‘s novel, the first trailer has now landed, which features our quote from the TIFF premiere.
We said in our review, “The Family Fang provides fuel for a future auteur study of its director Jason Bateman: haunted by his past as a child actor, his work in front of and behind the camera frequently explores the effects of childhood on adults as they struggle to move through life. Explored in Arrested Development, his directorial debut Bad Words, this summer’s The Gift, and even Juno, this theme has never been sharper than in The Family Fang. In a refreshing take on material that in another hands might have seemed pedestrian or cheap, Bateman has crafted an effective portrait of a dysfunctional family that’s not entirely unlike the Bluth Family. Rabbit Hole playwright and screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire adapts David Wilson’s novel with a rich emotional precision and as funny as it is, the material takes the absurdity seriously.”
Check out the trailer and poster below.
Adult siblings Baxter (Jason Bateman) and Annie (Nicole Kidman), scarred from an unconventional upbringing, return to their family home after an unlikely accident. When their parents (Christopher Walken and Maryann Plunkett) — performance artists famous for elaborate public hoaxes — suddenly go missing under troubling circumstances, Baxter and Annie investigate. Unsure whether it’s foul play or just another elaborate ruse, nothing can prepare them for what they discover.
The Family Fang opens on New York on April 29th and expands on May 6th.