Chosen Family, a comedy from Heather Graham

Chosen Family is a comedy written and directed by Heather Graham. It’s a story about bad relationships, dysfunctional family, and good friends.

Heather Graham isn’t breaking any new ground with Chosen Family. It’s on the light side with many well worn plot devices. On the whole it was a decent story, well filmed, but not even close to great.

Ann (Heather Graham) is a yoga instructor. She dates jerks. Her family is a mess. Her sister Clio (Julia Stiles) is in and out of rehab. Her dad (Michael Gross) is a ridiculously overblown caricature of a religious fanatic. Her mother (Julie Halston) thinks she gave up a brilliant career as a singer to be a mom and resents her daughters. They all depend on Ann for everything.

Ann does have good friends. Max (Thomas Lennon), Roz (Andrea Savage), and Frances (Odessa Rae) are great friends who stick with her and support her in everything.

Two changes kick start the plot. Ann meets Steve (John Brotherton). Steve is a great guy and they start dating. But Steve has a 7 year old daughter who runs his life and doesn’t approve of Ann.

Ann’s boss at the yoga studio (Stacey Sargeant, the only person of color in the whole movie) tells Ann she needs more yoga students. So she posts an overly confessional video in a bikini in hopes of attracting new students. She gets lots of new students. Maybe it was the confession, maybe it was the bikini, but people show up.

The key question is can Ann take control of her life? Can she be happy? She’s going to find out before the movie is over.

I found this easy and escapist watch on Hulu.