Here Today

This is more indulgent, and the more it goes on the more mawkish it unfortunately becomes. It's clearly a very personal project, but it just loses its way very badly.

A film with a big heart and more zingers than actual laughs.

A glossily disingenuous piece of work.

A very heavy and indigestible meal of emotional correctness.

Sure, there is a fair bit of whimsy and jarring dialogue, but Crystal is able to bring his usual self-deprecating style to an otherwise unoriginal story. Haddish is hugely likeable.

The handling is soggy and often tone-deaf, the kernel of mournful humanity the closest thing to a saving grace.

The problem is the writing - not just lacklustre, it is simply not funny at all.

There is an inherently manufactured feel to it all, even during the select moments of legitimately effective drama.

From a film perspective, it takes a master manipulator to make us feel genuine care and loss and sadly, Crystal is not even close to this level.

Crystal directs, co-writes, co-produces and stars in this well-intended yet strangely uneven dramedy.