Sometimes, too many words can drown a story. Edward Burns’ The Family McMullen, the sequel to his 1995 debut, The Brothers McMullen, does exactly that. It follows the Boston Irish brothers as they have gone through life and expanded into an extended family. The family reunites on Thanksgiving, another classic setting for the quintessential American story. Brothers Barry (Edward Burns) and Patrick (Michael McGlone), along with their sister-in-law, Molly (Connie Britton), who is now a widow after Barry and Patrick’s brother Jack passed away, reunite with their children and loved ones in a chaotic gathering. Burns’ return to the family aims to portray a lot of things peculiar to family dramas, but misses almost all of them.
The unfortunate template for feel-good stories is that they are stuck in the 90s. The McMullens have the problems that every regular family faces. The older generation is without filter, facing mid-life crises or losses. The youngest are starting a new phase of life and struggling. But all of them are in search of love and acceptance. While one expects to explore these themes through situations or scenes, the film quite literally uses words at every moment. It opens with a five-minute long wordy exchange between Barry, Patrick, and Molly that recounts the events of the previous film and the state of new characters. This verbose nature continues throughout the runtime, giving no chance for cinema’s fundamental rule: show, don’t tell.
The dialogues are not cut out for a character’s thoughts and reflections. Instead, they are narrated to the audience in a voiceover, especially in a tough situation. For instance, Patty (Halston Sage), the daughter of Barry, breaks up with her fiancé hours after their engagement. As she gets out on the snow-filled streets, she spills out her thoughts to us, moving in a caricaturish manner. There is no non-verbal montage to portray what she is going through. As an audience, it becomes difficult to root for characters when we are force-fed opinions instead of having the space to form them.
Despite such flaws, The Family McMullens reminds us of the American films of the 90s. A festive setting, with a smattering of flawed characters, and problems not venturing into intense moods. These elements were the ones that provided for easy watching. Combine them with some Irish flute music, and the calmness of the winter, and you have a warm watch for the afternoon. The cinematography for the film also does not aim for too much, but holds up the calm nature of the feel-good drama. But with all these elements of the 90s, the film feels like its writing hasn’t grown up since then.