Reuniting the Rubins

This family comedy tells the story of Lenny Rubin (Timothy Spall), a retired lawyer who dreams of a luxury cruise only for his dying mother (Honor Blackman) to intervene with her wish to see Lenny and his estranged children live as a family under one roof in her final days. Seems a simple enough request? Not quite when your children are an eco-warrior, a capitalist megalomaniac, a Buddhist and a Rabbi!

The film is a directorial debut for Yoav Factor and the story takes us through Lenny Rubin’s attempts to contact and persuade his offspring to fulfil his mothers’ wishes and the various squabbles and sibling rivalries that ensue. James Callis gives a strong performance as the hard-nosed, uncompromising businessman Danny Rubin and the gorgeous Rhona Mitra (plays eco-warrior Andie Rubin) adds a touch of glamour to the film. Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners) also provides a decent cameo as Danny Rubins personal assistant Nick, although the stand out performance unsurprisingly comes from Timothy Spall who plays the up-tight, frustrated and bewildered lawyer with ease. Spall brings all his experience to the table and almost singlehandedly gives the film a credible feel with his comfortable on-screen presence and perfect comic timing.

That said, and although funny and genuinely touching in places, the dialogue is obvious and even clunky at times and the constant piano laden soundtrack becomes overly sentimental at points and threatens to cheapen the sad moments that occur. The film will inevitably draw comparisons with Little Miss Sunshine, through its comedic portrayal of a clearly dysfunctional family unit and though it ultimately fails to reach these heights it is an entertaining comedy nonetheless.