Everything's Going to Be Great

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

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Jon S. Baird (“Stan & Ollie”) directs “Everything’s Going to Be Great” an amusing and good-hearted character study of a nomadic theatrical family, though it doesn’t carry much lasting weight. 

There is nothing outside the box here, but the episodes are charming, light, and entertaining. Lester (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) is a theater loving teen struggling in a homophobic middle school. Buddy (Bryan Cranston) is the father with dreams of being a producer, while Marci (Allison Janney) is the bohemian mother, hiding her conservative Christian beliefs to an extent. Lester has a brother, Derrick ( Jack Champion) who, although loving theater as well, strives to be a star football player and move in with a girlfriend.

Buddy makes the announcement that he took a possible position at a larger theater in New Jersey but that the family has a right to veto the move.

On the whole the family agrees to relocate with only one dissent from Derrick. Lester thrives in school, but Marci feels unloved and under-appreciated. She yearns for more spiritual fulfillment. This is family fare with a light touch. Lester fantasizes that he is with old movie stars in the mode of early Woody Allen. Ruth Gordon, Noel Coward, and Tallulah Bankhead appear giving advice and telling jokes.

Ainsworth in the lead role is terrific with pointed sarcasm and precocious flair. Bryan Cranston is solid once more as the adamant father and Allison Janney is always vivid in her portrayals, displaying the poignant as well as the comic.

The only drawback is that the drama is staid and conventional. The action and dynamics don’t voyage into any new territory and feels formed by television comedy.

Still, if one is just in the mood for a pleasant idyll, light chuckles and a few good lines delivered by the young Ainsworth, this will complement the popcorn with ease.

Write Ian at ianfree11@yahoo.com