Director: John Krasinski
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Duration: 85 minutes
The Hollars (DVD) – Movie Review
Meet the Hollars: Sally, Don, Ron and John all used to be a happy family, but times change, and even though Don still loves his wife Sally a lot, there are other things he can’t control. His business is going down south, and so is his son Ron if we are completely honest, and John hasn’t been home in over maybe not only for the worse.
Don Hollar (Richard Jenkins) is a loving husband and father of two sons, John (John Krasinski) and Ron (Sharlto Copley). While John lives in New York, trying to make a life as a visual novelist, his brother lives back home, after his very own father fired him from the job he had at Don’s business. One morning, their mother Sally (Margo Martindale) faints in the bathroom, and while Don isn’t too anxious about it, Ron calls an ambulance to take her to hospital. There, her doctor tells them that she has a brain tumor and that she will have to undergo a procedure later that week to have it removed. Don immediately calls John, who hasn’t visited in years, but after John hears the news, he is on the first flight home, leaving his pregnant girlfriend Rebecca (Anna Kendrick) alone in New York.
The further the film progresses, the more you’ll find out that the Hollars are no ordinary family. Ron is a bit of a loner, after he divorced his now ex-wife Stacey (Ashley Dyke). He misses his two daughters, and goes to great (even illegal) lengths to be with them, often putting him in a very awkward situation. Don is trying to save his business, even though things are looking really bad, and he doesn’t want his wife to know, certainly not in her condition. John is happy to be having a baby, but is at the same time scared to ty the knot and just not sure that he’s up for the job of parenting. All of them clearly have their own problems, but also try to cope with the fact that they might lose Sally. John seems to be glad being home, and makes the most out of the moments he has with his mother, having long conversations with her, but also giving her the best time ever.
The film has a nice flow with, despite the story being a bit cliché, some inspiring moments. The whole topic of a terminally ill mother and a lost son coming home feels a little soft, but director John Krasinski did his best to still make it a bit more interesting than your average flick, which he mostly succeeded in. Nonetheless, cliché scenes are unavoidable and will definitely pass the revue, but thanks to the fine acting they don’t get overly annoying to watch.
As we just said, the acting is quite enjoyable to watch and definitely lifts the story to a higher level. Especially the chemistry between Margo Martindale and Richard Jenkins is noticeable, but also John Krasinski and Sharlto Copley were very convincing as John and Ron respectively.
For extras, you get an audio commentary and an interview with the cast and crew, which is nothing out of the ordinary. What is more interesting, is the clip in which other cast and crew members talk about Margo Martindale and how they admire her persistence and her acting career, but also her as a person. The most interesting, at least to us, is the LA Film Festival Q&A, which is basically quite a long extra, in which John Krasinski, Margo Martindale and Anna Kendrick answer questions about the film in front of a live audience at the festival. Even though lots of these questions could have been answered in some kind of making of, this is a fresh way of making you more familiar with the movie.
Conclusion
The Hollars is one of those films that is a mix between good and cliché, but luckily the good takes the lead most of the time. The acting probably had something to do with that, as it really lifted the story up in our opinion. You get quite a decent amount of extras with the release, of which some prove to be quite original and informative. It’s certainly not a bad film, but as the story hasn’t got too much body to it, it’s probably not to everyone’s liking.
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