Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, Julia Roberts, Carrie-Anne Moss, Ioan Gruffudd, Hayden Pantettiere
Running time: 99 mins
Rating: ★★

HERE we are in dysfunctional family territory yet again, although with a starrier cast than most.

But writer-director Dennis Lee is so determined to be unsensational and downbeat that his film ends up being oh-so-dull.

This is no mean feat considering the star power available and willing to emote madly. Alas, the script denies them the chance to chew the scenery.

It’s all small gestures, sly asides and moping around.

The opening scene gives an idea of things to come. Stern father Charles Taylor (Willem Dafoe) is driving the car in a rainstorm while berating young son Michael for losing his glasses.

His wife Lisa (Julia Roberts) is incapable of stopping the argument. It ends with the boy abandoned in the rain as his parents drive off.

Flash forward to the present day as Charles and Lisa are back in the car heading for a family gathering.

Tragedy intervenes, giving the nowadult Michael (Ryan Reynolds) the chance to reflect on his childhood and contemplate unleashing skeletons from the family closet with a book about his experiences growing up.

Carrie-Anne Moss wanders into the picture as his alcoholic wife. So does Ioan Gruffudd as a friend of Lisa’s. Emily Watson (as the adult version of Lisa’s sister Jane) grapples with the reappearance of Michael with whom she shared intimate childhood moments.

Despite valiant efforts by Dafoe and a bewildered looking Reynolds, nothing persuades me to like any of them or care what happens to them.