The Hollars

A standard-issue family reunion dramedy, The Hollars has several genuine moments of human interaction.

Krasinski, who also directed the film, may have spread himself too thin; there's a desperation about the closing scenes, cluttered as they are with bouncy pop songs on the soundtrack.

Opening with a promising first act comprising well-observed, edgy humor, the film ends with an overdose of treacle so syrupy, so pungent, it will unsettle the strongest tummy.

Jenkins and Martindale, both old hands at this sort of "dramedy" material, come through for Krasinski as the story darkens in the second half.

"The Hollars" is an uneven, ineffective and self-conscious dysfunctional family comedy/drama with a Sundance-y vibe, and scene after scene in which the greatly talented and usually quite likable cast members keep stepping in big piles of wrong choices.

If Krasinski relates in any significant way to his character's self-doubt, you wouldn't know it from the movie, on which he does confident double duty as director.

An agonizing exercise in indie quirk.

It sure is all familiar yet it all resonates with such emotional honesty that you're unlikely to care that you've been down this cinematic road before.

Martindale deftly pulls off the trick of stealing a whole movie from an all-star ensemble.

"The Hollars" doesn't aspire to be anything it's not, and although this makes it predictable, Krasinski does a good job giving the movie its own persona and charisma to make it worth checking out.