Let me start off by saying when it comes to warm holiday fun family movies there are some that will almost always come out on top and then there are some usually starring b grade sitcom actors that should only have ever made it to the ideas bank. Once you've seen Foster you can make that decision for yourself. Foster is a 2011 film that stars Toni Collette (Muriels Wedding, Mental) as Zooey Morrison and Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four, W.) as Alec Morrison a long time married couple who have been together since high school, both have failing businesses and it seems their marriage if heading the same direction as well. After trying to for a child for a little while the pair end up at a foster care home ready to invest their love. They sit the initial meeting with the carer of the children Mrs. Lange played by Hayley Mills (The Parent Trap, That Darn Cat) and leave. A day or two later there is a knock at the door and one of the children from the home stands waiting to be let in he has the signed documents and a suitcase and is ready to become the newest member of the family. Eli played by Maurice Cole speaks impeccably, dresses miraculously and pretty much knows something about everything and seems to be the perfect child
Foster is a film made ideally for families, it has it's funny moments as well as its warm moments, sad moments and of course its more than happy ending with a few twists here and there to help it along. The funny thing with twists though in movies is that they can make anything happen. With all its gleeful happiness and touching tender moments there were a few things that it did disappoint me in from the very beginning. The first little niggle for me was the horrible Scottish accent that Toni used throughout the film, it was more than disturbing and sounded so fake, I can't even think of anything to compare it was that bad. The second little annoyance I found was the child, I get he is meant to be some kind of old soul but some of the things he was saying were just laughable and cringe worthy. The script could have been so much better and I'm guessing the budget went pretty much to the starring actors as well as Richard E Grant who plays the local homeless guy who has all the solutions. Apart from a more than predictable ending I think the film could have been very different if someone a little more creative got involved. It really wants to be a film that is filled with magic, unfortunately it's not. I'm not saying that this was a bad film, in fact if you want to watch a film that doesn't have the bad language, no violence just good wholesome family fun then this would be ideal, especially as a Christmas film where all the family are over the conversations and catch ups have ended and its time to wind down. This film also carries the title "Angel in the house."
Review of Foster
