"Benjamin"

Everyone thinks they've got "that family". You know the one where everyone tries to come off normal on the surface but get a few drinks into them and you start to see the dysfunctional personality hiding just beneath the surface and how they all seem to get crazier by the minute. Well, in the case of this film, you're are probably nowhere near as bad.

Ed (Bob Saget, who also directed this film) has gathered his family and close friends to come to his home for an intervention for his teenage son Benjamin (Max Burkholder). Along for this event is his girlfriend Jeanette (Mary Lynn Rajskub) who's pretty much fed up with Ed's emotional state, his brother Rick (Kevin Pollak) who's marriage is on the rocks and is having a connection with Jeanette. His friend Dr. Ed (Rob Corddry) a gynecologist who seems to be in touch with his feminine side, his daughter Amber (Clara Mamet) her boyfriend Tom (Jonny Weston) and their tagalong friend Ronny (David Hull) who is way too involved with their relationship and his "bro" and some distant cousins that have sticky fingers Clarice and Mitch (Cheri Oteri and Dave Foley).
As they try to ease into the subject of Benjamin using crystal meth, the conversation seems to bring to light more issues yet to be addressed by the others that turn the intervention for one into one for one dozen and Ed becomes more anxious due to the fact that his wife who left him Marley (Peri Gilpin) has yet to show up for their son and the impending arrival of a tough love group that is going to take Benjamin at midnight to help him get clean if they can't get through to him first. It's a roller coaster of dysfunctional family dynamics playing out in one afternoon that will lead to major confessions and a great reflection for all as to who they are and where they go from here.

Off the wall crazy and all over the place. This is a film of mixed feelings. While Bob Saget has truly shed his image of Mr. Full House dad Danny Tanner as the emotionally unstable Ed and brought a cast of very colorful characters that had you diving into their stories with each passing minute, it did throw a lot at you to take on. As you can probably guess Benjamin comes off as the more normal one of the group amongst the unstable cases that seemed to have taken every possible OMG trait or situation they could think of and threw it all together. While the characters are comical in many cases and it shows the power of family coming together can overcome much, it leaves you thinking, "And I thought my family was messed up." So all in all, while this is one crazy train I wouldn't discourage you riding, I give you fair warning as I let it leave the station with three G.M.Stars in the hopes that the next stop is a good therapist.

⭐⭐⭐
Green Mountain Stars

"Benjamin" is available at Redbox and where movies are sold/streamed.