Director Anne Renton's debut feature The Perfect Family is sure to offend some, as its trailer boasts the line, "I don't have to think! I'm a Catholic!" However, if you look beyond this biting bon mot, it's easy to see that Renton's dramedy appears to be a thoughtful explorations of faith and family, or more specifically: what to do when your family challenges your faith.
Kathleen Turner stars as Eileen Cleary, a devoted Catholic and proud wife and mother who is being considered for a coveted award within her parish, honoring exemplary members of the church. While she loves her husband and two grown children, she fears their less-than-pious life styles will lose her the recognition she so badly desires. Emily Deschanel (Bones) and Jason Ritter (Parenthood) play her children, a soon-to-be-married lesbian and a cheating husband respectively, while Michael McGrady (Southland) co-stars as her drunk and beleaguered husband Frank. The Perfect Family won't hit theaters until May 4th, but you can get a peak at its challenging humor below:
Personally, I'm eager to see how Renton will balance Eileen's Catholicism-informed view with that of her more secular-minded children. Often in movies, religious people are portrayed as symbols (for better or worse) more than characters, but Turner and Renton seem committed to making the audience not only understand to Eileen's plight but also connect to it. She wants to love/accept her children, but why do they have to make it so difficult? She's a flawed but well-intentioned person whose having trouble resigning the way she thinks her life—and the life of her family—should be versus what it is. And whatever creed you may be, it seems like a plight we could all relate to.
