In the Family

If you missed the stellar film In the Family earlier this year when it played at the Gene Siskel Film Center, you can catch it in a handful of shows at Facets Cinematheque in September.

This drama is about a gay man fighting to understand the prejudice of people he trusted once his partner dies, leaving behind their son in his care. Joey Williams (Patrick Wang, who also wrote and directed), is a southern gay designer/renovator, currently living with his partner Cody and their son Chip, who is Cody’s biological son. One morning Joey gets the dreaded phone call that Cody has been in some kind of accident, and rushes to the hospital with Chip. They are greeted by Cody’s worried family—sister Eileen and brother-in-law (Kelly McAndrew, Peter Hermann) and mother (Park Overall). After a time the family is allowed to visit Cody, but not Joey, since he is not “family.” But Joey takes this in stride and takes a moment to calm the anxious Chip and encourage him to visit with his unconscious “Pa.”

Joey continues his work, helping an affluent southern couple renovate their home’s library, even offering to rebind some old leather books for the husband, a former lawyer (Brian Murray). But after the funeral, Cody’s family, namely Eileen, keeps Chip away from Joey and severs contact between them with no explanation. Understandably Joey is perplexed, and we see in a few flashbacks how the two men met and became a couple, with some complex aspects of their relationship that might explain Eileen’s attitude. Joey’s friends console and offer help, and his client ends up representing him in a legal fight. Through a very honest and forthright deposition, Joey hopes to explain to Cody’s family that being a parent and a loving person has nothing to do with his race or his sexual identity, and that people not related by blood can be just as important and loving as role models and parents.

Although the pacing of this film is very moderate, even maybe slow, and the length of the movie is nearly three hours, I think there is very little of this story that I would cut. Not once is the word “gay” or “homosexual” or “race” said, and the characters show by their actions their prejudices or ways of thinking. This film is really good at showing and not telling, and although Patrick Wang’s style of acting seems too low-key, the accumulation of Joey’s actions speaks volumes of the type of person he is and how he treats people and hopes to be treated. Some supporting characters, who at first appear to be inconsequential background characters, evolve as the story goes on and become essential to Joey. Perhaps a little more focus on Eileen would have helped to shape her character to the audience, which was a little one-sided. Acting overall was very good, with a very good performance by Sebastian Banes who gives a naturalistic performance as the six year old Chip but doesn’t become a precocious, “obvious” actor.