'In the Family' is producer, writer and director Patrick Wang's first feature which focuses on the conflict between a gay parent, Joey, who has lost his partner, Cody, in a car accident and Cody's sister and brother-in-law, who gain custody of Joey's six year old child, Chip, after it's discovered that the deceased partner never updated his will.
'In the Family' feels like it's based on a real-life story but Wang indicates he got the idea from his dealings he had with a civil rights lawyer. A lawyer figures prominently in the action of the last third of the film played by an excellent Brian Murray, who basically uses his 'people skills', to successfully re-unite Joey with the child, who was legally 'abducted' from him.
The film's major shortcoming is that it's almost three hours in length and sometimes moves at a glacial pace. That's because director Wang has a fondness for long takes. Sometimes they work: when Joey learns of partner Cody's death, the camera fixates on Joey from behind, standing in shock at the hospital, and the full import of the tragedy is felt, despite the lack of any sound on the soundtrack. Other times, one wishes that Wang employed a little bit more judicious editing, to move things along a tad bit more briskly.
Wang does an excellent job in humanizing his protagonist, Joey, the well-adjusted Tennessee contractor, who ends up bewildered by the selfish actions of his in-laws, who take his child away from him, without regard to the feelings of a man who has been a good father for six years. We can infer that sister-in-law Eileen's decision to take Chip away from Joey is based on her disdain for his homosexuality. The prejudice against Joey extends to the community-at-large, manifested by the multitude of attorneys who refuse to take his case. There's one excellent scene where Joey is referred to an attorney by a friend who turns out to be anything but sympathetic. He tells Joey, "that kind of stuff" (meaning gay relationships with their attendant sexual mores), will be rejected out of hand by any Judge in the State of Tennessee.
'In the Family' ends on a happy note, after Joey offers to restore an old book for kindly retired attorney Paul Hawks (Brennan). Hawks reminds one of the homespun Judge, Joe Welch, who presided over the Army-McCarthy trials during the 50s; he's drawn to Joey, and willing to come out of retirement, since he can see this is a decent man who has been wronged. Hawks smartly avoids dealing with the Tenneesse judiciary directly and manages to convince Joey to proffer up an unusual gambit: in exchange for a deposition, Joey is willing to cede the house formerly owned by partner Cody, which he's been living in, since his in-laws allowed him to stay there, following Cody's death.
The deposition is really an opportunity for Joey to plead his case to his in-laws, and for them to realize that they were all wrong about Joey, and what kind of person he is. The attorney for the in-laws attempts to impugn Joey's character by emphasizing that he acted out as a twelve year old while in a reform school, but that behavior backfires, as both Eileen and her husband realize that their attorney's behavior was inappropriate.
All's well that end's well, when Joey is reunited with Chip at film's end. Presumably, the bitter recriminations between both parties involved, have been resolved, and Joey will at least have visitation rights, if not getting to act as Chip's regular father, again.
'In the Family' ends up as a sensitive meditation on an unusual child custody case. Creator Patrick Wang shows real talent for coming up with a very realistic plot as well as directing all the actors (including himself) with great sensitivity. If you're willing to put up with slow pacing in spots, you'll be rewarded with not only a grand plea for 'tolerance' but a strategy for reconciling deeply estranged family members, who at first glance, have little chance of re-establishing communication with one another.
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