I will admit this is one of those movies I wanted to see mostly because my favorite actors were in it; Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, and Elizabeth Banks.  I will also say straight off the bat that this was a pretty average movie with an ending I really liked.

This is a movie where you get what you kind of expect.  We’ve got a story about imperfect families, struggles within those families, and the one family member who is difficult to understand and probably the least perfect of them all, but who tries to make amends from beyond the grave.

It’s a story that I feel like people can relate to in some form or the other; you’ve got the single mom trying hard to make everything work, the guy who just can’t seem to face situations head on, the kid who expresses his frustrations by causing trouble here and there, and the mom who’s made her share of mistakes and harbors some regrets from the past.  It’s really a movie about family and acceptance.

It makes sense and doesn’t at the same time why Pine’s character doesn’t just come out and reveal himself to Banks’ Frankie right off the bat, and I found myself rooting equally for both characters, that things would just work out for them on the mending family ties front.  I think that may have been why I was pretty satisfied with the ending since it really brought things around full circle, not to mention that I actually found the whole thing to be believable.  I’ll admit I didn’t always like the child character in this one, but I sort of warmed up to him by the end of the movie.

While not an out-of-this-world amazing kind of story, I think it’s nice for what it is and worth at least a one-time watch, though perhaps not in theaters.  I think this is the perfect movie for that movie-night in, when you just want to curl up in a blanket and watch something simple.  Of course, if you absolutely feel the need to watch something in theaters and there’s nothing else out that you deem worthy of your time, I don’t think this is a bad choice either.

FINAL VERDICT: C