Instant Family

A couple (Rose Byrne, Mark Wahlberg) decide to take in some foster kids. They quickly find themselves out of their depth.

Marky Mark has become king of the self righteous arseholes recently, playing a string of true-to-life all-American heroes over the last 10 years. I can’t say I was expecting much from this glorified advert for the US foster care system then.

To my great surprise, Instant Family is rather good. It’s an earnest and heartfelt comedy that after a rocky first 5 minutes refuses to shy away from the realities of fostering kids. Marky Mark struggles to keep up with Rose Byrne and the kids, but that says more about how good they are.

They couldn’t resist an over-kill ending but that aside the drama, pathos and the humour come from a real place. Not at all the wacky gag-fest you might expect.