Adult Beginners

Director: Ross Katz
Year Released: 2014
Rating: 1.5

After burgeoning tech mogul Jake (Nick Kroll) sees his latest project fail horribly - and finds himself basically bankrupt - he goes to live with his sister Justine (Rose Byrne), her (surprisingly tolerant) husband Danny (Bobby Cannavale) and their son Teddy to get his life straightened out ... or something like that. This is another one of those movies to come out of late (also see - or don't - Sisters, The Skeleton Twins, This Is Where I Leave You to name three) about Emotionally Arrested "Adults" returning 'home' in order to 'resolve' past issues (if only it were so easy): here Kroll's character 'becomes an adult' by developing a fondness for little Teddy while working on fixing his sister's broken marriage (due to Cannavale's recreational drug use and affair with a real estate lady). It peddles in half-assed metaphors - learning to swim! - and patches up serious marital concerns too handily; Kroll is marvelous as a supporting TV character (most notably in The League and Childrens Hospital), but his ingrained apathy and relentless sarcasm work against him when he needs to turn 'serious.'