- Actors: Charlie Sheen, Leah Remini
- Director: Fred Wolf
- Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
- Language: English
- Subtitles: French, English
- Region: Region 1
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: Not Rated
- Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- DVD Release Date: April 11, 2017
- Run Time: 89 minutes
Mad Families relies wholly upon an
unrealistic scenario of coincidence for its plot, lazily treating the feature
film as though it were a forgettable episode of a poorly written sitcom. This
is somewhat fitting, considering how much of the cast is made up of television
actors in obvious need of a payday. But even these fading stars of the small
screen deserve better than writer/director Fred Wolf has to offer, a man whose
crowning achievement was writing the screenplay for the Grown Ups movies and directing the straight-to-video sequel to Joe Dirt.
As with many of
Wolf’s endeavors, Mad Families feels
like something written and shelved in the 1990s. Three families with similar
names are all accidentally booked for the same camping spot on a busy 4th
of July weekend, and instead of conceding it to each other, decide to compete
for the right to stay. To make matters more complicated, or simply less
politically correct, each of the families are made up of different ethnicities.
This allows the families to be transparent stand-ins for racial tension in America
Unfortunately,
there is little to celebrate within Wolf’s screenplay, co-written by David Spade.
Much of the humor comes from jokes about racial stereotypes, and the characters
are only developed enough to help with these jokes. There are also a few
convenient romances, coincidentally involving members of the different
families. Franklin (Finesse Mitchell) is being set-up with Shantaysia (Chanel
Iman), whose name alone is used as a running gag in the black family, despite
secretly having a relationship with Felipa (Naya Rivera), a member of the
Hispanic family that just happens to know him outside of this coincidental
situation. Shantaysia is not neglected, however, when an alcoholic member of
the white family (Charlie Sheen) shows an interest in her.
Although the
romances are the closest thing to an actual storyline, aside from the basic
premise, there are a number of additional character traits that make up the
running gags of the film. Both the Hispanic and African American families have
disappointing sons (Juan Gabriel Pareja and Lil Rel Howery) that are somewhat
of an embarrassment, while the white family has more of a weird uncle (Clint
Howard). Leah Remini also co-stars as a step-mother desperate not to be called
“fake mom” by her new husband’s children, which range from very young to a
20-something sexpot (Charlotte McKinney). The younger children in the film are
mostly a reminder that the adult actors are not the least talented cast
members.
The film doesn’t
have much direction beyond the inevitable resolution between families, mostly
aimlessly drifting between various race jokes. The film feels written with
sitcom sensibilities, which makes sense considering the cast. The DVD includes
no special features, not that anyone who has endured the feature film will be
looking for additional content.
Entertainment Value:
3.5/10
Quality of Filmmaking:
2/10
Historical
Significance: 0/10
Special Features: 0/10
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