''Ideal Home'' is a 2018 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film, written and directed by

Andrew Fleming Andrew Fleming is an American screenwriter, film director, television producer, television director, film producer, actor, and television writer. He directed and wrote or co-wrote the films '' Bad Dreams'', ''Threesome'', '' The Craft'', ''Dick ...

and starring

Steve Coogan Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, which ...

Paul Rudd Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in ...

Alison Pill Alison Pill (born November 27, 1985) is a Canadian actress. A former child actress, Pill began her career at age 12, appearing in numerous films and television series. She transitioned to adult roles and her breakthrough came with the television ...

Jake McDorman John Allen McDorman IV (born July 8, 1986) is an American actor. On television, he headlined the CBS comedy-drama ''Limitless (TV series), Limitless'' (2015–2016) and was the male lead of the sitcoms ''Are You There, Chelsea?'' (2012) and ''Man ...

, and

Jack Gore John Henry Gore (16 June 1899 – 18 March 1971) was a Welsh international rugby flanker who played rugby union for Blaina and rugby league for Salford. His son, Billy Gore, played international rugby for Wales national rugby union team the sa ...

. It premiered at the

Mardi Gras Film Festival The Mardi Gras Film Festival is an Australian LGBTQ+ film festival held in Sydney, New South Wales annually as part of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras celebrations. It is organised by Queer Screen Limited, a non-profit organization, and i ...

on February 15, 2018 and was released in the United States on June 29, 2018.

Plot

Erasmus and Paul are a couple whose life is turned inside out when a ten-year-old boy, Bill, shows up at their door claiming to be Erasmus's grandson. Erasmus is a famous chef and Paul is the producer of his cooking show, and they live in a large showplace house in New Mexico. Bill's father, Beau, was the result of a one-time heterosexual encounter, and Erasmus has never met him or Bill. Beau has been jailed on drug charges and instructed Bill to find his grandfather. Erasmus and Paul come to embrace parenthood, although Paul does most of the heavy lifting. Beau attempts to get clean in jail, and tells Erasmus and Paul that he plans to take Bill out of state once he is released. When Bill says he would rather stay with the couple, Erasmus consults a lawyer. He is told that it's unlikely he'll get custody unless Bill is in immediate danger from his father. Erasmus and Paul try to enjoy the holidays with Bill and the time they have left with him. After Beau shows up to take Bill, Erasmus invites him in hoping to change his mind; later that night, Beau takes Bill and leaves without saying goodbye. Erasmus and Paul's relationship has been strained, and Paul tells Erasmus that he plans to take a job with Rachael Ray's show in New York. Erasmus seems indifferent at first but jumps in front of Paul's car and begs him to stay. Paul goes as far as the airport, but turns back and they reconcile. Beau gets into a drunk-driving accident with Bill in the car, and Erasmus and Paul are awarded custody.

Cast

as Erasmus Brumble, Beau's father, Bill's grandfather and a TV chef *

as Paul Morgan, Erasmus's director and long-term partner *

as Angel/Bill Brumble, Erasmus's estranged grandson *

as Melissa from Child Protective Services *

as Beau Brumble, Bill's father and Erasmus’ son * Jesse Luken as Director * Eric Womack as Officer Forrest * Jordyn Aquino as Leticia * Jenny Gabrielle as Betty * Lora Martinez-Cunningham Ms. Garcia * Monique Candelaria as Officer Guttierez *

Frances Lee McCain Frances Lee McCain (born July 28, 1943) is an American actress. Early life and education McCain was born in York, Pennsylvania and grew up in New York, Illinois and Colorado in addition to California. She graduated from Ripon College with a ...

as Doris * Marie Wagenman as Little Girl at Indian Party

Production

directed the film from his own script. The film was produced by Aaron Ryder,

Gabrielle Tana Gabrielle Tana is a British film producer. Tana and her fellow producers were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture for the 2013 film ''Philomena''. Filmography * '' Someone Else's America'' (1995) * ''Animals'' (1998) * '' On the Rop ...

, Maria Teresa Arida,

Clark Peterson Clark Peterson (born February 7, 1966) is an American film producer and entertainment executive. He produced the Academy Award-winning film '' Monster'', starring Charlize Theron, and has created and produced a wide variety of award-winning fil ...

, and

Maxime Rémillard Maxime Rémillard is a Canadian businessman born on January 17, 1975, in Greenfield Park, Quebec. He is the president of both Remcorp, a leading Canadian private investment firm and Remstar Media, an entertainment and content delivery company. ...

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

on the film began on May 11, 2016 in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

Release

In May 2016, Remstar Films acquired the Canadian distribution rights to the film. The film had its world premiere at the

on February 15, 2018. Shortly after,

Brainstorm Media Brainstorm Media is a full service American film distributor and production company based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1995, it is recognized for its expertise in video on demand, TV, and theatrical release strategies. In addition to distr ...

acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film and set it for June 29, 2018.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of , based on reviews, and an average rating of . The critical consensus reads: "''Ideal Home'' benefits from the chemistry between a well-chosen cast, whose work helps tip the scales against the script's inconsistent -- and occasionally retrograde -- humor." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average rating of 62 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Zac Platt of ScreenRealm gave the film 3/5 stars, writing that "even if it's not a ''must see'', the warm and fuzzy tone and winning characters make ''Ideal Home'' an easy recommendation."

References

External links

* {{Andrew Fleming 2018 films 2018 comedy-drama films 2018 LGBT-related films American comedy-drama films American LGBT-related films Films directed by Andrew Fleming Films scored by John Swihart Films shot in New Mexico Gay-related films LGBT-related comedy-drama films Films about parenting 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language comedy-drama films