Movie Review--People Like Us

My sister, Beth, and I like to go to the movies on a Friday or Saturday afternoon (like I did in my childhood years).  Lately it has been difficult to find something that wasn’t animated, based on a comic book character, or rated R.  Last Friday, we took a chance and went to see People Like Us at the Wynsong Theater in the RiverWoods shopping area of Orem.

It begins with Sam (Chris Pine) arguing with his boss which was not an auspicious beginning.  Sam, it seems, is a super salesman in a “bartering” company.  He is an aggressive salesman who thinks he has closed a big deal for which he will be highly rewarded (he wasn’t).  When he returns home to his fiancée, Hannah (Olivia Wilde), he learns that she received a telephone call with the bad news that his father, Jerry Harper, has died.  Sam reacts unemotionally and tells Hannah that he wasn’t close to his father, a recording executive, who was very involved with his career. 

After a ruse by Sam to miss their flight to Los Angeles, they finally find another flight but miss his father’s funeral.  Lillian (Michelle Pfeiffer), his mother, sits on a row by herself waiting for her only child, Sam.  When Sam and Hannah arrive at the house, his mom hugs him and slaps his face, but warmly welcomes Hannah.  Later he finds out that he has inherited his father’s huge record collection which is quite valuable.

Now the story starts to unfold.  His dad’s lawyer summons Sam to his office where he gives him a shaving kit with his father's initials on it.  Inside he finds $150,000 cash money and a note for him to deliver it to a person named Frankie (Elizabeth Banks). He tracks her down at an AA meeting where she discloses (sarcastically) to the group that her father, Jerry Harper, has just died. 
 
Sam realizes that his father had another family that he apparently abandoned. This is a secret that changes all their lives. When he finds out his half-sister is raising an 11-year-old troubled son, Josh (Michael Hall D’Addario), he decides to stay in L.A. and get to know them. The relationship between Frankie and Sam is misunderstood by Frankie when Sam is slow to disclose their familial relationship.  When his secret is disclosed the result is anger. The rest of the movie is about evolving relationships with Sam and his mother, with Sam and Hannah, and with Sam, Frankie and Josh.

Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Hall D’Addario are all outstanding and well cast in their roles.  The story unfolds naturally highlighting unexpected difficulties that affect individual lives and families.  I was surprised that DreamWorks SKG was partially involved in making this movie.  I don’t expect it will make a lot of money or be in theaters very long.  I will say it was an enjoyable time in a cool theater on an extremely hot July afternoon in Utah.