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The makers of the well-meaning queer-themed dramatic-comedy "Ideal Home" are smart enough to treat their middle-aged gay characters—desperate-to-please celebrity chef Erasmus ( Steve Coogan ) and his crabby producer/partner Paul ( Paul Rudd )—with enough sensitivity to make you want to root for them. Unfortunately, it's hard not to be disappointed by writer/director Andrew Fleming's tepid jokes about Erasmus and Paul's clueless attempts at maintaining their by-now strained relationship, and also adopting Erasmus's estranged grand-son Bill ( Jack Gore ), who was abandoned by his biological father/Erasmus's son.

Coogan and Rudd's generally charming performances both give weight to their otherwise wisp-thin characters, but their swishy mannerisms also speak to the superficial nature of Fleming's presentation of Erasmus and Paul. All we know about these guys is that they drink, bicker, and are sad about how out of touch they feel. Also, they’re seriously loaded, which presumably explains how clueless they are. In that sense, the most radical and ostensibly funny thing about Erasmus and Paul is that they get to be openly gay and cartoonishly out-of-touch. That’s not necessarily a good look, but some may consequently find the protagonists of “Ideal Home” to be adequate in an overly precious "Will & Grace" meets " Mrs. Doubtfire " kind of way.

Others may be disappointed that “Ideal Home” is not more like " The Birdcage " or any of Blake Edwards's more inclusive comedies, particularly " Victor/Victoria ." "Ideal Home" lacks those earlier comedies' fearless willingness to undercut gay stereotypes with sight gags, pithy one-liners, and dramatic asides that reveal how hard it is to be proud when society’s normalizing standard-bearers don’t see yourself like you do. "Ideal Home" is, in that sense, held back by writer/director Andrew Fleming's seeming lack of imaginative empathy. He doesn't get far enough into his characters heads to consider the underlying social pressures that motivate Erasmus and Paul's rocky relationship, and therefore never delivers any meaningfully funny jokes about what it’s like to be a pair of highly visible outsiders.

Instead, Fleming focuses on how rich and clueless Erasmus is, and how frustrated and tired that makes Paul. Erasmus swans around his palatial ranch while filming a program about in-authentic Mexican and Indian food, including kitschy-sounding fusion platters like "Tandoori lobster." Erasmus also drinks too much, and makes big displays of emotion that are—as Paul correctly intuits—essentially insincere. This leaves Paul to do most of the day-to-day work of caring for Bill, a withdrawn kid who grew up in cheap motels and impersonal fast food restaurants thanks to his deadbeat dad. Bill—born "Angel," though he hates that name—starts off by sneering at Paul and Erasmus for being gay. He then makes Erasmus and Paul’s lives difficult by refusing to tell them his real name (thereby preventing them from enrolling him in school). Also, he won't eat anything but Taco Bell. He is poor, sad, and angry, which is apparently amusing?

Anyway, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this all sounds less like an underwhelming range of mountain-shaped mole hills. Erasmus wears a raccoon fur coat and demands the wine list and a better table when he visits Taco Bell. Then Paul tries to bribe Bill into eating Lunchables or Sour Patch Kids, just so Paul doesn't have to be seen going to Taco Bell. There’s also a couple of uncomfortable, but never really embarassing encounters with concerned social worker Melissa ( Alison Pill ). So what? What do these mild conflicts say about Erasmus and Paul other than "Our creators don't really understand us beyond a point?"

"Ideal Home" may not be a total dud, but it is a huge waste of both Rudd and Coogan's talent. Most of the film’s jokes are so shameless and uninspired that even the hackiest improv troupes would be ashamed of them, like when Paul and Erasmus take Bill to the "Dootsh-Baag Art Gallery,” or when Melissa discovers their gay porn stash, featuring titles like "Butt Pluggerz" and "Brokeback Mountin." The only thing that’s notably funny about these bland routines are the appropriately embarrassed looks on Coogan and Rudd’s faces. Fleming's jokes are rarely as funny as Coogan and Rudd are, though the bit where Erasmus and Paul have sex on a bear skin rug has an exceptionally hilarious climax.

Simon Abrams

Simon Abrams is a native New Yorker and freelance film critic whose work has been featured in The New York Times , Vanity Fair , The Village Voice, and elsewhere.

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Film credits.

Ideal Home (2018)

Paul Rudd as Paul

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Review: A Child Adds a Layer to Gay Couple’s ‘Ideal Home’

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By Teo Bugbee

June 28, 2018

As two well-heeled aesthetes living in a version of gay paradise, where one partner hosts a cooking show that the other produces, Erasmus ( Steve Coogan ) and Paul ( Paul Rudd ) are ambivalent about the prospect of parenthood.

But when Erasmus’s estranged son is sent to prison, leaving Erasmus’s troubled young grandson Bill in his and Paul’s care, the couple adapt to the child’s needs. For better and for worse, their parenting style matches their prickly relationship. Flighty Erasmus plans parties to help Bill make friends, while duty-bound Paul takes over mundane tasks like packing lunches and driving the boy to his Santa Fe elementary school.

The director of “Ideal Home,” Andrew Fleming, based the movie on his own experience as the second parent to his partner’s child, and the movie thrives by depicting the idiosyncratic textures of gay relationships. “Ideal Home” is genuinely funny, and the poignant and pithy script is aided by the chemistry between its stars, who are equally adept with comedic punch lines as they are with dramatic gut punches. Refreshingly, the film’s tone seems pitched more to gay audiences than straight ones. Erasmus and Paul would prefer white wine over beer, thank you, and there is a pleasing and rare lack of self-consciousness about the way the characters engage with their identities.

“Ideal Home” avoids explicitly addressing its politics until the credits, which play over a photo montage of real gay families. Mr. Fleming’s gesture is clearly heartfelt, but in a film that avoids the sappiness so frequently reserved for gay domesticity in popular entertainment, it is the one sentimental sleight of hand that gives the game away.

Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes.

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‘ideal home’: film review.

Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd play a gay couple who suddenly find themselves caring for a 10-year-old boy in Andrew Fleming's comedy 'Ideal Home.'

By Frank Scheck

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There may be no more adorable onscreen duo today than Erasmus and Paul, the perpetually bickering gay couple around whom the new comedy by Andrew Fleming ( The Craft , Dick ) revolves. Played to hilarious effect by Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd, these wildly entertaining characters bring Ideal Home to vibrant life despite the film’s familiar plot aspects.

Coogan, who previously worked with the writer/director on the terrific Hamlet 2 , plays the deliciously named Erasmus Brumble, the pompous star of a Santa Fe cable television food show directed by his longtime partner Paul (Rudd). As the story begins it’s made clear that the relationship between the two men has seen better days, as evidenced by Paul’s response to a crew member who asks him why he stays with someone who irritates him so much.

Release date: Jun 29, 2018

“Part of me wants to stick around just to watch him die,” Paul says, not entirely kidding. He also observes about his partner that “he’s like Butch Cassidy, except not butch.”

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It won’t be hard for viewers to guess that Erasmus and Paul will find themselves transformed by their newfound parental responsibilities or that their relationship will become stronger as a result. The fun stems mainly from the amusing interactions between the two main characters so deliciously played by Coogan and Rudd. Both actors are at peak form here, with Coogan clearly having a blast as the flamboyant Erasmus and Rudd employing his expert deadpan delivery and gift for comic timing as the slow-burning Paul. They make the central relationship feel entirely believable, with the result that we truly come to care about whether the two men stay together. They also have excellent chemistry with their pint-sized co-star, who manages to steal more than a few scenes.

Ideal Home suffers from a few missteps, including a running gag about Taco Bell that feels more like blatant product placement than narrative necessity. And there will no doubt be some viewers who feel that the principal characters border on stereotypes. But they would be missing the fun of this good-hearted film whose positive message about same-sex parenting is emphasized in the end credits sequence featuring photos of numerous real-life examples.

Production companies: Remstar Studios, Lucky Monkey Pictures, Raygun/Baby Cow, Fortitude International Distributor: Brainstorm Media Cast: Steve Coogan, Paul Rudd, Jack Gore, Jake McDorman, Alison Pill Director-screenwriter: Andrew Fleming Producers: Maria Teresa Arida, Lucia Seabra, Gabrielle Tana, Aaron Ryder, Clark Peterson, Maxime Remillard Executive producers: Steve Coogan, Lisa Wolofsky Director of photography: Alexander Gruszynski Production designer: Anthony Fanning Editors: Jeffrey M. Werner, Byron Wong Composers: Martin Simpson, John Swihart Costume designer: Judith R. Gellman Casting: Pam Dixon

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Ideal Home Reviews

Several lines and moments remain memorable and laugh-out-loud funny, regardless of its transparent ambitions as a socially progressive comedy.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 11, 2022

At times some of the gags can be a little obvious, but on the whole this has a tight comedic script that plays on both character and situation for plenty of laughs.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 1, 2021

Poignant and very funny.

Full Review | May 22, 2021

The film looks and sounds great but what really pulls the viewer in are the humor and the performances. Paul Rudd particularly shines by being his usual self but with something more to it than his usual mildly goofy, sometimes aloof performances.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Apr 12, 2020

This is a slight film, but it is a low-key delight.

Full Review | Dec 14, 2019

I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. Very funny and equally frustrating, mostly because of Coogan's character.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 2, 2019

Families come in an endless assortment. But it's a safe bet that few of them are as ill-assorted at first as flamboyant TV chef Erasmus, his panic attack-prone partner, Paul, and the pugnacious 10-year-old grandson Erasmus didn't know he had.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 7, 2019

Coogan and Rudd get a surprise visitor in Andrew Fleming's gay rom-com, with lightweight results.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 4, 2019

May not be groundbreaking queer cinema but it's a meaningful and genuinely hilarious movie-going experience that caters to a wide audience despite its colourful mentality.

Full Review | May 4, 2019

Like eating an old piece of candy. It tastes sweet but sometimes you can't help feeling its outdatedness.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 12, 2019

Ideal Home is a pretty average comedy with some laughs thanks to the lead performances, but its messy script, Fleming's self-conscious direction and predictable storytelling bring it down a notch.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 18, 2019

Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd star in Ideal Home, a comedy about an upper middle-class couple that feels out of touch, and severely outdated.

Full Review | Nov 1, 2018

Ideal Home is a charming warm-hearted comedy which is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.

Full Review | Oct 31, 2018

Significantly more earnest and sentimental than one might expect.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 27, 2018

Ideal Home is ultimately a kind of boring and really on the nose movie.

Full Review | Aug 27, 2018

Ideal Home offers a twist on the traditional family dramedy that leans slightly more towards the comedy side of things. It's ideal viewing if you're after a breezy, entertaining watch.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 16, 2018

The breezy romcom approach allows Fleming to touch on several big topics in ways that are never preachy.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 9, 2018

It's badly out of kilter with the plot of Andrew Fleming's comedy, a low-key piece that could have been played more realistically.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 9, 2018

It's well acted and laugh-out-loud funny at times but has its longueurs too.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 9, 2018

Every joke's punchline is that these characters are gay, making it difficult to understand who exactly, in 2018, the film hopes to make laugh.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 8, 2018

Film Review: ‘Ideal Home’

As a gay couple who wind up as parental caretakers, Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd try to enliven a liberal but retrograde big-screen bitchcom.

By Owen Gleiberman

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“ Ideal Home ,” a featherweight big-screen sitcom in which Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd play testy romantic partners who wind up as parental caretakers of a 10-year-old boy, is the perfect example of how a movie can be progressive and retrograde at the same time. It’s supposed to feel cutting edge that Coogan and Rudd, who are both terrific actors, adopt a no-big-deal posture toward portraying a gay couple. If only the movie itself were as nonchalant about it! Written and directed by Andrew Fleming, who has had a fluky, hit-or-miss career (“Threesome,” “The Craft”) but built a good comic pedestal for Coogan a decade ago with the dementedly funny “Hamlet 2,” “Ideal Home” is never not painfully aware that its two main characters are gay. It’s a cozy duet of tit-for-tat bitchery that, at times, carries the nagging whisper of a liberal minstrel show.

Instead of treating Erasmus (Coogan), a grandiose monomaniac of a celebrity chef who has his own TV series, and Paul (Rudd), a director of celebrity-chef TV, as characters who happen to be gay, the film puts their sexual identity so front and center, creating such a cliché pile of domestic shade-throwing, that it’s just about the only identity they have.

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“Back in the ’80s, when I was experimenting,” he tells Paul, “I had a liaison with a woman, which resulted in a baby — yuck! [eyeroll] — which she wanted to keep.” That “yuck!” is a little…yuck, so dated and unnecessary. Erasmus is informing Paul how he wound up with an adult son, which is necessary to explain how Erasmus’s 10-year-old grandson, the freckled, floppy-haired Angel (Jack Gore), has now shown up at the pair’s sprawlingly tasteful Southwestern ranch in the desert outside Sante Fe. Angel’s dad, Beau (Jake McDorman), is a widowed troublemaker who’s been tossed in jail, which means that he can either hand Angel over to Child Protective Services or foist him off on the kid’s grandfather.

Without putting too fine a point on it, the concept, in its Velveeta way, is just musty enough to be faintly, if innocuously, homophobic. As comedy, “Ideal Home” is built around the notion of “Two neurotic gay men as parental figures? What could be more hilariously incongruous? ” Not that it’s father/son love at first sight. “Get away from me, you fag!” yells Angel as Paul tries to comfort him. But that all quickly melts away. It’s Paul who steps up to look after Angel like an actual devoted parent, and after taking him on one too many trips to Taco Bell, they forge a bond.

“Ideal Home” features one vintage Steve Coogan moment. Paul says to Erasmus, with prickly incredulity, “You’ve got a grandson?” And instead of trying to explain this startling fact, Erasmus points up to his own face and says, “It’s unbelievable, isn’t it? I mean, look, I’ve had no work done.” Is there another actor who pushes vanity into borderline insanity the way Steve Coogan does? Yet in “Ideal Home,” there’s too much old-fashioned inanity. It’s Rudd who has the “straight” role here — with a chic side-shaved haircut and bushy beard, he grounds the film, giving Paul a snappish gravity and charm that helps balance out Coogan’s lip-pursing hysteria.

The movie is about how these two, stuck in a rut after 10 years together, come to have a new appreciation for their partnership, thanks to the nurturing spirit brought on by Angel. But not before they spend a few scenes screaming at each other, and Paul storms off in a huff to go work for Rachael Ray. “Ideal Home” is a trifle, but more than that it’s caught between eras, poised between wanting to crack you up at what cranky prima donnas its characters are and to make you tear up at the revelation of their normal hearts. The result? A comedy of flamboyant banality.

Reviewed on-line, June 20, 2018. MPAA Rating: Not rated. Running time: 94 MIN.

Production: A Brainstorm Media release of a Remstar Studios, Raygun/Baby Cow Films production. Producers: Arida Aquilana, Lucia Seabra, Aaron Ryder, Gaby Tana, Maria Teresa, Clark Peterson, Maxime Remillard. Executive producer: Lisa Wolofsky.
Crew: Director, screenplay: Andrew Fleming. Camera (color, widescreen): Alexander Gruszyski. Editor: Jeffrey M. Werner. Music: John Swihart.
With: Steve Coogan, Paul Rudd, Jack Gore, Alison Pill, Jake McDorman, Jesse Luke, Eric Womack, Jenny Gabrielle, Lora Martinez-Cunningham.

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Ideal Home review: A good deal fresher and more irreverent than most family fables

Steve coogan and paul rudd play a gay couple reluctantly caring for a surly boy in andrew fleming’s thoroughly amiable comedy, article bookmarked.

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Coogan’s Erasmus can’t help but remind us of Alan Partridge. Rudd, meanwhile, has a nice line in gentle sarcasm, likening his stetson-wearing boyfriend to a ‘gay Butch Cassidy, except not butch’

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Dir Andrew Fleming, 89 mins, starring: Paul Rudd, Steve Coogan, Jake McDorman, Jack Gore, Kate Walsh, Alison Pill

Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd play a gay couple reluctantly caring for a surly boy in Andrew Fleming’s thoroughly amiable comedy. Coogan is Erasmus Brumble, a distinguished and very narcissistic TV chef living in affluent splendour on a ranch in New Mexico with his filmmaker boyfriend Paul (Rudd). Their constant bickering doesn’t hide their obvious affection.

Years before, Erasmus had a son from whom he has long been estranged. When the son is arrested and sent to prison, Erasmus ends up looking after Bill (Jack Gore), the man’s child (and the grandson Erasmus never knew he had.)

Much of the humour here is very obvious. The gay couple struggle to cope. “We can’t have a kid. We couldn’t even handle that Yorkshire terrier,” they complain. Erasmus isn’t the type to pack lunch boxes and attend parent teacher meetings. Paul resents the newcomer’s dietary habits.

The boy, who’s a bit of a redneck, is disdainful of the camp and extravagant way in which his new carers live. They’re equally shocked by his lack of general education and inability to spell even the most simple words correctly.

Inevitably, the frostiness soon thaws. The unlikely new family unit begins to function very successfully. It’s then, though, the social services come calling. The care worker can’t help but be suspicious about the couple’s extensive collection of gay porn.

Nothing in Fleming’s screenplay surprises us but Coogan and Rudd are very good value as the unlikely parents. When he is falling off horses or wearing fur coats or getting caught in flagrante having sex on top of a bearskin, Coogan’s Erasmus can’t help but remind us of Alan Partridge. Rudd, meanwhile, has a nice line in gentle sarcasm, likening his stetson-wearing boyfriend to a “gay Butch Cassidy, except not butch”.

The two actors manage the delicate feat of showing up their characters’ vanities and idiosyncrasies without lapsing into caricature. In the early scenes, the boy isn’t appealing at all. He’s a sullen, truculent brat who doesn’t speak and stuffs his face full of Mexican food whenever he has the chance. We know that he is bound to blossom forth and overcome his juvenile prejudices long before the final credits.

Ideal Home may not startle us with its plot twists but it’s a good deal fresher and more irreverent than most family fables – and it never gets too preachy either.

Ideal Home hits UK cinemas 6 July.

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Ideal Home Review

04 Jul 2018

Few human beings could possibly live up to a name like Erasmus Brumble, but it suits Steve Coogan ’s character in Ideal Home to a T: a narcissistic, entitled, and fabulously gay bon viveur with a modestly successful lifestyle show that allows him to indulge all of these qualities. He’s the antithesis of his husband-slash-producer Paul ( Rudd ), a quiet, bearded intellectual. Maritally speaking, they’re functionally dysfunctional, but their acidic bickering and sniping clearly masks a deep affection for one another.

Naturally, the arrival of Erasmus’ ten-year-old grandson throws a spanner into their well-manicured works, moving into their plush New Mexico pueblo while his dad (Jake McDorman), Erasmus’ son from a pre-gay one night stand, serves some jail time. “We can’t have a kid,” Paul complains. “We are kids.” He’s half right: Erasmus is the overgrown man-child incapable of thinking of anyone but himself, but Paul proves surprisingly adept at the parenting thing, even though he says it’s like “babysitting the boy from The Shining ”.

A decade ago, writer-director Andrew Fleming gifted Coogan a memorable film role in the uneven, but still underrated, Hamlet 2 , and here he helps Coogan to craft an even more indelible character, whether he’s blithely asking for the wine list at Taco Bell, or self-mythologising by claiming to have studied at Oxford. “You went to a cooking school in the town of Oxford,” Paul reminds him.

Of course, Coogan gets all of the fun, flashy stuff to do, but look closely and it’s clear that the Rain Man Effect applies: Rudd is every bit as good in the less showy role. The film is at its best when we’re hanging with the Coogan-Rudd comedy dream team, and at its weakest when it ‘goes all Hollywood’ and people (especially the kid) start learning and growing. But Ideal Home has it where it counts.

Ideal Home (2018)

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Eye For Film >> Movies >> Ideal Home (2018) Film Review

Reviewed by: Andrew Robertson

The first thing we see in Ideal Home is a child's escape from a motel room, one punctuated by thwarted parental ambition, legal complications, a lack of recognition. It's a striking start, suddenly and sweepingly replaced by the opening montage of a cooking show, bringing upon the screen the grinning face of that child's grandfather, Erasmus Brumble.

Shot in New Mexico, with a primarily male cast, this is in some ways a Western - a troubled community has its fault lines exposed by the arrival of a mysterious stranger - but here it's not that there's No Name On The Bullet , but that the blender is endorsed by a different celebrity chef. That chef, Erasmus, is Steve Coogan, absolutely at the top of his game. His partner, Paul, a rarely better Paul Rudd, is not only his show's producer but the practical part of the household. There can be, and probably ought to be, concerns about two straight actors playing a gay couple, but in as much as I can judge their relationship is possessed of a definite chemistry, and while physical affection is on occasion used for humour it never feels malicious. Indeed, while there's reference made to the melodrama of the courtroom and there are plenty of jokes, there's a significant emotional core to the film, one anchored in Paul's relationships with Erasmus, and, through the film, with the kid.

Jack Gore's great, ably managing to convey the difficult parts of settling in, of establishing oneself within a new home, recognising and testing boundaries, realising that adults are just kids who got older, and older, and older. The kid's father is played by Jake McDorman, another of a generation of actors whose talent isn't constrained by those old lines between film and TV, though admittedly that's made complicated by the fact that one of his most recent roles was in the TV series that followed Limitless . Though slightly less complicated than the Vader (nee Skywalker)/Solo/Ren generational triptych (comparing things to Star Wars is just a phase), there's a good line in parallels and lessons learned and unlearned between the roles, and the scenes between Coogan, McDorman, and Gore are all well drawn. It's Rudd though, not just in company, who excels.

Written and directed by Andrew Fleming, who worked with Coogan elsewhere in the American southwest before on Hamlet 2 and whose most famous work is still probably The Craft, it's genuinely charming, laugh out loud funny, emotional enough that dust levels must have increased, and edgy enough to avoid feeling too schmaltzy. It's very funny, often based in the ribald, but there's some measure of wry (and rye) as well. A parent-teacher conference after a presentation gone wrong is an almost continuous series of cackles, and Taco Bell's co-operation is a cruelty to audiences who saw it at Edinburgh's 2018 Film Festival as their nearest branches are between 40 and 160.1 miles away. Cruelty might be a relevant word, because there is some measure - dinner party conversation about fine food near the Syrian conflict is indicative of characters due change, even if the Mayor thinks they're good company. There are, as said, a few jokes predicated upon the central couple's sexuality, and that's a difficult line to judge. I thought it fair, funny, but in truth my opinion doesn't count.

What I can say is that it's gorgeous. Properly lush, those landscapes of scrub and pueblo that caught The Eyes Of Orson Welles , a few brief moments of support for the harried production designer (objects must indeed exist in a space) and from their sterling work a home that is ideal, at the very least visually. This is cinematographer Alexander Gruszynski's ninth film with Fleming (they've done some TV together too), and every frame could be taken from Vanity Fair. In a career that also includes Tremors , it's fair to say Gruszynski's eye suits the desert sun.

It's properly painterly and there's reference to other photographers in the accoutrements of the titular house, the couple posed with Liza Minelli, art on the walls, sculpture on the tables, Chunky Monkey on the freezer with the Kevin Costner magnets. So lush and louche that it reminded me of GSFF award winner The King And I , a similarly large character, a similarly complex story, a similarly heady cocktail of taste and refinement and spirits (in both senses). There are a few jokes created, or at least paced perfectly, in the edit, and with one name writing and directing Jeffrey Werner's input there seems important. There's a perfectly paced series of shots that's based entirely upon the presence of figures in landscape. There are some brilliant bits of composition, little tricks of focus and technique that gladden my critical heart.

The music is good - there's enough strings to multi-instrumentalist Martin Simpson's collection that I couldn't honestly tell you where his contribution and John Swihart's composition don't overlap, and there's something properly satisfying in the way that a particular earworm is used. Visually though - in set dressing, and setting, and dressing - it shines.

The tagline for the film is apparently "These Dads Suck" and even for a film that's got jokes predicated upon rude signs and a use of the C-word by a British actor (I think that might be a union rule) that's perhaps cruder than it deserves. Fleming's career as writer/director has a tendency to be a balancing act between genuine feeling and hardened affect, and even in writing that there's a temptation to add a "hur hur" to indicate the sides. Ideal Home is subtler than that, leisurely enough and rich enough (in most senses) to do better, and often does. There are some fairly cavalier attitudes to drink and drugs, and while I too am no angel there's something quite stark in the contrast in fortunes that wealth brings to those acts. Ideal Home isn't perfect, but 'lovely' doesn't do it justice. It's more Abigail's than any other kind of dinner party, and while it ends with family photos it's as coda to a family picture - admittedly one overwhelmingly unsuitable for children.

Director: Andrew Fleming

Writer: Andrew Fleming

Starring: Paul Rudd, Kate Walsh, Alison Pill, Jake McDorman, Steve Coogan, Sarah Minnich, Jesse Luken, Stafford Douglas, Lora Martinez-Cunningham, Jenny Gabrielle, Frances Lee McCain, Marie Wagenman, Monique Candelaria, Jack Gore, Cassandra Rochelle Fetters

Runtime: 91 minutes

Country: US

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Ideal Home review

Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd headline Ideal Home, a new comedy drama from the director of The Craft. Here's our review...

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Writer-director Andrew Fleming was a constant presence in multiplexes – well, his films were – across the 1990s. The Craft is the most remembered, but it’s well worth digging out Threesome and Dick too, as well as his 2008 Sundance hit, Hamlet 2 . In recent times, his film output has thinned, which given his natural comedic and human touch has been a pity.

Ideal Home , his first film since 2014’s Barefoot (itself his only feature in a decade, with Fleming instead concentrating on TV work), reunites him with Steve Coogan, his Hamlet 2 star. It’s an independent mix of comedy and drama, that casts Coogan as Erasmus, a celebrity television chef who bickers with his collaborator and boyfriend Paul (Paul Rudd). Their life is thrown down a very different path, though, when Erasmus’ 10-year old grandson Angel, through very film-y story circumstances, comes to live with them. The framework of the film becomes immediately apparent. Erasmus has no idea what to do with children, and has regrets over the relationship in the past that led to said child. Paul freaks at the idea of a child coming into their lives. The child won’t even tell the pair his name. Nothing could go wrong, right?

The story thus travels a familiar path, and yet there’s material here that lifts it. Coogan in particular is terrifically spiky as Erasmus, a blend of vanity and vulnerability, along with tip-top comedy timing, that serves the film well. Rudd, too, is the metaphorical straight man in the comedy partnership, and it’s unflashy, quality bearded work that he puts in.

Furthermore, the film’s funny. Watching Coogan and Rudd on screen together is a real pleasure, and Coogan offers the most memorable uttering of the words “Dances With Wolves” since the Academy handed Kevin Costner an Oscar.

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Bits of the film around the outsides of these characters don’t work quite as well. The moments where Angel’s father come onto the scene feel narratively necessary more than particularly interesting. Furthermore, the film does take a little while to get motoring, not really a luxury it has with its commendable hour and a half running time.

Also, the film treads a very fine line between pulling the leg of stereotypes, and relying on them. The core couple are utterly matter of fact about their relationship, and for the most part, so is the film. Yet it still has a few lines and moments here and there that feel a little out of their time.

But I think Ideal Home wins more than it loses. It certainly delivers as an engaging comedy, with a core central comedy duo I’d very much like to see on screen together again. Furthermore, there’s a montage of photos over the end credits that I found really quite touching, and made one of the points of the film far more potently than the movie itself.

It’s nature of the independent movie beast that Ideal Home has struggled to get distribution, with a VOD and small cinema release the best it’s going to get. It is worth seeking out, though, as there’s a good amount to enjoy here, and a fair few chuckles. It’s also good to see Andrew Fleming back making features. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before we see another.

Ideal Home is in selected UK cinemas from Friday, and on digital HD.

Simon Brew | @SimonBrew

Editor, author, writer, broadcaster, Costner fanatic. Now runs Film Stories Magazine.

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Review: ideal home.

The broad strokes of the performances make the film’s occasional lurches into sentimentality seem especially jarring.

Writer-director Andrew Fleming’s Ideal Home depicts the decadent lifestyle of Erasmus (Steve Coogan), the pompous host of a basic cable cooking show, and Paul (Paul Rudd), his producer and life partner. Their relationship is defined by incessant bickering, with temporary truces called only when they’re entertaining at their Santa Fe ranch, or when their inherent horniness for each other gets the better of them. Into this somewhat dysfunctional picture steps Erasmus’s estranged grandson, Angel (Jack Gore), whom the pair are unexpectedly tasked with raising after the youngster’s deadbeat dad, Beau (Jake McDorman), winds up in jail. Inevitably, their self-indulgent existence proves wildly incompatible with parenthood. The situation is rendered all the more difficult by their new ward’s reluctance to speak, and his initial revulsion at the idea of being raised by two men.

Inspired by Fleming’s own experience of raising a child with a long-term male partner, the film was clearly conceived as a celebration of queer parenthood, as evinced by joltingly earnest scenes involving Erasmus or Paul becoming quietly misty-eyed after a breakthrough with Angel. Admirably, Ideal Home is unapologetic in its portrayal of sexuality: Unlike Love, Simon and Alex Strangelove , both of which offer curiously chaste depictions of gay desire, Fleming’s film has no interest in placating prudish straight audiences.

But any goodwill Fleming builds is undercut by his frustrating willingness to sacrifice coherent character development, even the vaguest sense of plausibility, for the sake of a cheap and often undeveloped gag. One particularly risibile exchange asks us to buy into the notion that Erasmus has mistaken the word “felting,” in the context of an elementary school art display, for “felching.” Other moments, for example, make light of domestic violence, mental illness, and Angel’s deprived upbringing—and in a manner that feels bizarrely at odds with the film’s underlying plea for tolerance.

Toward the end of the film, Paul assures Erasmus: “If you were dying, I would cut the heart out of my chest for you.” But the declaration feels absurd coming from a character who, up to this point, has offered no glimpse of anything redeemable in him. Erasmus and Paul’s sex life appears to be the only healthy facet of their relationship, but the leads fail to convince as a couple, with Coogan’s performance akin to Alan Partridge doing a mocking impersonation of an aging queen, and Rudd looking like the reluctant recipient of a Queer Eye makeover. Such broad strokes make Ideal Home ’s occasional lurches into sentimentality seem especially jarring, and bring an odd flippancy to what’s intended to be a sincere ode to LGBTQ families.

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Paul O'Callaghan

Paul O'Callaghan is a Berlin-based writer whose work has appeared in Exberliner , BFI , Sight & Sound , Sleek , and other publications.

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‘Ideal Home’ Film Review: Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan Become Unlikely Dads, Hilariously

Writer-director Andrew Fleming is one of the best and most underrated makers of comedies today, and his new film “Ideal Home” is delightful in spite of a premise that sounds un-promising.

Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd play Erasmus and Paul, a gay couple who are saddled with Erasmus’s grandson (Jack Gore, “Billions”) after Erasmus’ ne’er-do-well son Beau (Jake McDorman, the upcoming “Murphy Brown” reboot) is arrested. Trying to evade the police in the first scene, Beau gets stuck in a window, and Fleming lingers on a shot of his behind in tighty-whities in a way that somehow feels more kindly than lecherous; certainly there are worse ways to enliven a basically expository sequence.

Erasmus is a popular and snobby TV food show host based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Paul is his producer; they have been together for ten years and they bicker near-constantly. “Part of me wants to stick around just to watch him die,” Paul tells one of their crew, a remark that is so over-the-top in its viciousness that it shows just how much Paul is in love with Erasmus.

Also Read: Chris Evans, Paul Rudd Answer Fox News Anchor's Call to Grant Terminally Ill Boy's Wish

The tone of “Ideal Home” can be very sharp, and some of the satirical scenes have real bite. Fleming’s writing is at its best here when he is sending up the exaggerated sensitivity of liberals when they are dealing with a minority and not sure what might offend them.

Erasmus’ grandson was named Angel by his parents, but the boy wants to be called Bill, and this is permitted by his new gay guardians. At a party for Bill, a mother looks at Erasmus and Paul drinking the beer she gave them and says, “Would you rather have white wine?” in a very panicked voice, as if she might have caused them some major kind of offense, and it is the exaggerated scale of her panic that puts over this acute social observation.

Also Read: Steve Coogan, John C. Reilly to Star in Laurel and Hardy Biopic

In dealing with the fights between Erasmus and Paul, Fleming displays a similar kind of edge and insight. Paul wears a beard and has tattoos on his arms, and he is a somewhat self-consciously masculine gay guy, and so of course he really explodes with anger when Erasmus makes fun of him for trying to sound butch. Coogan is particularly good in this moment, making a wide-eyed, childlike face as if he knows that he has really managed to hurt Rudd’s Paul.

Fleming goes against the grain of modern comedies because he never tries to get laughs with free-floating vulgarities or bathroom humor, and he gets away with his bolder jokes because there is always a sense of hard-earned warmth underneath them. It’s a sensibility that stretches all the way back to his melancholy and sexy second feature film “Threesome” and cult favorites like “Dick” and “Hamlet 2.”

Watch Video: Jimmy Fallon, Paul Rudd Make Most of Olympics-Shortened 5-Minute 'Tonight Show'

Most unusual of all, Fleming is a comedy director who constructs his films visually to give pleasure, however modestly. Every shot in one of his movies is composed to give a sense of balance and to emphasize the shapeliness of interiors, and his eye is alive to beauty, whether it is the beauty of a pair of lamps or a doorframe or the rear end of the convict father in his underwear. And maybe that shot of Beau stuck in the window does have a purpose, in that he is a notably unsympathetic character; perhaps Fleming is saying, “This guy is a jerk, but at least there’s this in his favor.”

“Ideal Home” contains some big laughs, especially a sex scene between Erasmus and Paul that ends with Erasmus crying, “Oh, ‘Dances with Wolves’!” (It makes sense only in context.) And Rudd brings real cant-deflating style to a moment where Beau priggishly says that he is sober and Paul responds, “So am I. Unlike you, however, I’m going to do something about it.” On the debit side, Bill only wants to eat at Taco Bell, and all of Fleming’s talent can’t make this any more than a blatant commercial.

At 85 or so minutes, “Ideal Home” does not overstay its welcome, like so many lengthy Judd Apatow (and Judd Apatow-influenced) productions, and surely Fleming should be making a feature comedy every year.

‘Ideal Home’ Film Review: Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan Become Unlikely Dads, Hilariously

Andrew Fleming’s charming tale of two gay men embracing paternity displays the writer-director’s trademark wit and visual style

Writer-director Andrew Fleming is one of the best and most underrated makers of comedies today, and his new film “Ideal Home” is delightful in spite of a premise that sounds un-promising.

Ideal Home – A Delightful Surprise

I think I only want to see the gay dad, dad beard version of Paul Rudd from now on.

Synopsis: Paul and celebrity chef Erasmus live an extravagant, self-indulgent life. When the grandson they never knew existed crashes their fancy dinner party, their lives are turned upside-down. (Brainstorm Media)

Starring: Paul Rudd, Steve Coogan, and Jake McDorman

Writer: Andrew Fleming

Director: Andrew Fleming

Rating: n/a

Running Time: 91mins

Ideal Home is a true delight, in every sense of the word. This is an excellently funny and cute film that not many are not going to get the chance to see. To begin, the story here, about a couple whose lives are turned upside down by a sudden arrival, is so wonderful. This kind of story is definitely something we have seen a million times before, but the cast, direction and writing all collide in a way that executes these cliches better than most. Although this could easily have fallen into obnoxious territory, it never manages to do so, and this alone is a damn good reason to seek this one out.

It is quite easy to say the cast is the main reason this one is so great. Steve Coogan as celebrity chef Erasmus does such a brilliant job of incorporating his personal sense of humour into the role so well, and his chemistry with both his fellow leads is definitely a highlight. Paul Rudd is great as well as Paul, playing a character with a bold personality unlike many of his past performances. Perhaps the most surprising of all, child actor Jack Gore as Bill, the grandson who turns Paul and Erasmus’ lives upside down, may be the highlight amongst all involved here, and maybe even the film. Unlike most child actors, he never becomes annoying, and seeing the way he portrays the character- someone who was raised by and gained values from a drug dealer, is done incredibly well.

Director and screenwriter Andrew Fleming, known for his work on films such as Hamlet 2 and Dick, does an excellent job on crafting the story and characters here, in what will surely be a glowing highlight of his filmography. Fleming himself has said, although the idea and plot at hand here are very simple, the film ultimately took 10 years to craft, from idea to final cut. It goes without saying that this was definitely worth his time, considering the success he had in the time at stake here.

There are still a couple minor issues to be had here though. To begin, the opening act of the film is surprisingly mean spirited, and a little too much so. The way the characters address the delivering of the child won’t be necessarily agreeable for some, but the way we see the characters build off of this throughout the film does in fact make up for it. Also, the last act does drag a bit, considering the true highlight of the film is seeing the chemistry of Erasmus/Paul and Bill, and their bonding, are the best part of this film. When it becomes more about the reflection of the experience, the quality does dwindle a bit.

Aside from these minor nitpickings, Ideal Home is a really sweet and delightful film that although you may not have heard of, is definitely worth your time if you can find it. If your in the mood to stay in with the AC on this hot summer weekend, it may be worth renting this one for the discovery of it!

Score: 8/10

Follow me on twitter @daniel_azbel and on letterboxd @danthemovieman .

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American Animals - A Stylishly Original Crime Thriller

Toronto ant-man and the wasp advance screening giveaway (canada only).

Often Off Topic

June 29, 2018 at 3:15 PM

This sounds amazing, just the kind of movie I would love! Adding it to my watch list now, I hope I can find a copy!

dannythemovieman

July 1, 2018 at 3:43 PM

I believe it’s on iTunes and all the regular VOD platforms, if you can find it definitely check it out!

Keith Noakes

July 2, 2018 at 4:11 AM

https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.js Select theaters and VOD probably just in the US.

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‘Ideal Home’ Review: Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan Dazzle In an Ill-Fitted Story

Not all of this movie’s shortcomings can be overlooked for a charming paul rudd and his nice beard..

Published June 26, 2018 Movies , Reviews By Emily Kubincanek Disclaimer When you purchase through affiliate links on our site, we may earn a commission.

There’s no official sub-genre for movies featuring a selfish grownup who’s suddenly thrust into the parenting of a child, but there are certainly enough of those movies to create one. They’re heart-warming, albeit predictable, tales that help us believe even the crappiest people are capable of shaping up. Few of them stray from a straightforward story, but Andrew Fleming ‘s latest feature Ideal Home provides more interesting subjects to the unprepared-parents cliche by making those parents two bickering gay men.

Just as the formula goes, Ideal Home begins with the abandoned child Bill ( Jack Gore ) finding his surrogate parents, Erasmus ( Steve Coogan ) and Paul ( Paul Rudd ). It opens rather somberly for a comedy as Bill watches his real father being taken to jail. Oppositely, his parents-in-waiting don’t live a happy life either. Erasmus, a pompous cooking show host likely modeled after Ina Garten, and his long-term partner Paul, who works on Erasmus’s show, bicker on set in front of the rest of the crew. They host an extravagant dinner party for other well-to-do guests, something that’s apparently their specialty for avoiding their problems. They’re set up perfectly for the audience — they’re selfish, materialistic, and completely out of touch with the rest of the world. Listening to them joke about having to deal with screams of children in Syria while trying to eat their authentic cuisine, it’s clear their privileged life is about to be upended. Bill quietly informs Erasmus he is his surprise grandson. The whole party reacts superficially like Bill is just another silly story that happened at one of Erasmus and Paul’s crazy parties. It makes for a funny scene and fits with their character, but it speaks to the problem of the entire film moving forward.

Rudd and Coogan have fantastic chemistry and bring all of the laughs pretty single-handedly. Their relationship is the strongest aspect of the movie, despite being a rocky relationship in actuality. It’s clear Fleming spent the right amount of effort making sure this gay couple feels real and not just a gimmick. Their fights are hilarious and sometimes sad when we are dying for a hint that this movie has some emotion. At odds for most of the movie, they are exactly what you want out of a comedy couple forced to deal with an issue together. Fleming could’ve put them in any type of comedy and they would be enjoyable to watch and make up. As entertaining as Erasmus and Paul are, though, they’re only half of the movie.

Fleming nails fleshing out the couple, but just as important to develop is the child they have to take care of. Bill is where the movie loses its substance. The circumstances in which he lands into the hands of Erasmus and Paul are wonky but easy enough to look past once the film gets going, but the boy’s lack of personality is harder to overcome when it never improves.

Bill is boring, but at no fault to the actor who plays him. When we finally get some insight into what he has been through in his tough young life, the kid delivers a good performance. So much of the movie sees Bill as a quiet addition to a scene with Erasmus and Paul clearly dominating attention rather than being an intricate part of the conflict as well. He’s talked about a lot of the movie but doesn’t actually do much. What made Paper Moon (1973) so fun was that Addie’s personality was an equal match for Moses and made his attempts to control her impossible and entertaining. That’s what Ideal Home is missing despite the joy of Erasmus and Paul’s interactions.

In turn, if Bill isn’t fleshed out than neither is his relationship with his new parents. Every movie involving that kind of relationship needs to begin with the surrogate parents having no way they can take care of this kid as the child threatens their life as they know it. That, of course, leaves no other option and they have to shape up and look after the child. Something shifts, they grow close and now they need each other. Just as they’ve got everything figured out, a threat comes along trying to tear them apart which they triumphantly overcome.

Ideal Home tries to follow that outline but in a way that feels inorganic from the start. Bill never threatens Erasmus and Paul’s extravagant life or anything else important to them. It’s not that difficult of a decision to take care of him. Every obstacle after that is menial and solved way too quickly to mean anything to the audience or their relationship.

Fleming’s good intentions with Ideal Home make it worth watching if you’re looking for a jovial story with diverse characters. It has some good laughs and an occasional emotional moment, but it lacks the substance to be anything but just okay.

Ideal Home opens in limited release starting June 29th.

Tagged with: Comedy LGBTQ Paul Rudd

Emily Kubincanek

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‘Ideal Home’ Review: Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan Play Gay Parents in a Sweet but Retrograde Comedy

David ehrlich.

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A lot can happen in 10 years. That’s how long it’s been since writer-director Andrew Fleming first hatched the concept for “ Ideal Home ,” the idea coming to him when he was on the set of his arid Sundance hit, “Hamlet 2.” The world has come pretty damn far since then, if not quite far enough.

Back in 2008, a casually disposable comedy about the virtues of queer parenthood might have seemed progressive, even if it starred two straight actors and made their characters into human cartoons whose sexuality is used as the punchline of almost every joke. In 2018, that same comedy feels like a time capsule that someone forgot to bury — you can still get a laugh or two from looking at the stuff inside, but it’s hard to know what we’re supposed to do with it now that the future that “Ideal Home” wants is already behind us. The film isn’t funny enough to get around that temporal dissonance, and it isn’t nuanced or grounded enough to reconcile it. Still it does feature Steve Coogan rocking a t-shirt that reads: “I shaved my balls for this?,” so it’s not as if we’re dealing with a total whiff.

Read More: ‘The Catcher Was a Spy’ Review: Paul Rudd’s Baseball-Driven World War II Thriller Is an Atomic Bomb

There are Steve Coogan movies, and then there are Steve Coogan movies , and this is definitely one of the latter — that’s obvious from the moment we learn that he’s playing a man called Erasmus who hosts a cooking show on basic cable in Santa Fe. Naming a character “Erasmus” is basically an open invitation for Coogan to go full tilt and deliver a performance so vain and self-obsessed it makes Alan Partridge look like Tony Wilson , and Coogan takes full advantage of this golden opportunity. Case in point: The amusing scene where Erasmus gathers Santa Fe’s most powerful around the gaudiest banquet table he can find and leads them in a toast to “the little people.” Arrogance, minus irony, multiplied by obliviousness — nobody does it better, and it never gets old.

Erasmus’ longtime partner on the show and in life is a squat and comparatively grounded producer named Paul (a bearded and believable Paul Rudd ). If it’s Erasmus’ job to keep a smile on his face and his head in the clouds, it’s Paul’s responsibility to bring things back to Earth. Erasmus would never admit that their relationship is in a rut, while Paul can’t go 30 seconds without sniping at him from a distance. When someone asks about their future as a couple, Paul shoots back: “Part of me wants to stick around just to watch him die.” They resent each other just like a straight couple!

Still, in a movie where most of the dialogue is single-mindedly geared towards reminding us that these characters are gay (“Erasmus is like the gay Butch Cassidy, but not butch”), it’s impressive that Coogan and Rudd are able to build a semi-believable bond through their squabbles, even if their sitcom antics never sell us on a deeper emotional core. Alas, the movie’s plot rests on the love between, putting more weight on their partnership than this 84-minute trifle can support.

The story, such as it is, kicks into gear when a red-headed boy named Angel (“Billions” actor Jack Gore) walks up to Erasmus with an old family Bible and declares that he’s his grandson. Apparently, Erasmus wasn’t always so discriminating about the friction in his life. Angel, who soon declares that he’d rather be called “Bill,” soon insinuates himself into Paul and Erasmus’ relationship, giving them a reason to stay together. Hijinks ensue. Taco Bell plays a surprisingly large role. There’s a great running gag about how no one can remember Bill’s name. At one point, Allison Pill shows up as a Child Protective Services agent who comes to the house and finds Paul’s trove of porn.

It’s all pretty low-key stuff, as Fleming naturally prefers a constant simmer of mirth to the occasional belly laugh. Despite milking most of the movie’s humor from gay jokes, the writer-director — drawing from his own experiences of same-sex parenting — is so determined to “normalize” the idea that he never lets homosexuality become part of the drama. Bill couldn’t possibly care less that his grandad is gay, and nobody else seems to mind, either.

That would be a blessing if not for how much the rest of the movie is focused on it, and also for how much Fleming struggles to come up with any kind of conflict. When Paul suffers a panic attack, it feels as though he’s only suffering to raise the stakes. And when Erasmus suddenly claims to care for Bill with every fiber of his being, it’s hard to buy the change of heart. There’s no denying the purity of Fleming’s intentions (the movie’s end credits even play over a montage of same-sex parents), but “Ideal Home” is too cartoonish to meaningfully celebrate the beauty of the families we choose, and too casual to accomplish much else. A decade ago, it might have felt like a step in the right direction — today it feels like the extended pilot of a network sitcom that should never go to series.

“Ideal Home” opens in theaters and on VOD on June 29.

Erasmus and Paul have their life turned upside down when a ten-year old boy shows up at their door claiming to be Erasmus' grandson. Reluctant to give up their extravagant lifestyles to be parents, they must adapt or risk losing the child. A really funny movie that has it's dramatic moments.

Ideal Home stars Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd ( Ant-Man & The Wasp , Ghostbusters: Afterlife ) as a couple who must contend with an unexpected addition to their family.

Coogan plays a flamboyant and irresponsible celebrity chef called Erasmus. Paul, is his husband and the producer of his tv show. Together more than ten years, life for the couple looks good on camera. But behind closed doors, their relationship is really on the rocks.

That is until a ten year old boy shows up at their door with a note informing Erasmus that he is his grandson.

A dalliance nearly 30 years earlier had resulted in a son called Beau. Erasmus played no part in his life so is quite surprised to know he even has a grandchild.

Beau has been arrested and is sitting in prison. With nobody else to look after the child, Erasmus and Paul must take on the parental duties.

Utterly unequipped to deal with a child, especially when they don't even know his name, the duo face a crash course in parenting.

Erasmus is flighty and indulgent, Paul tries to provide stability. And while Ideal Home is peppered with really funny moments, there are also some more dramatic scenes. The couple's relationship can not be fixed instantly. They risk losing the child to Social Services and what happens when Beau gets out of prison?

Ideal Home is a funny, whimsical movie that is really enjoyable to watch. Coogan ( from The Dinner ) and Rudd are brilliant together.

And for all the laughter and outrageous moments, they can still pull it out of the bag when it comes to highlighting the more serious parts of their relationship.

It may a little known movie but it's worth a watch. Will it win any awards, no. But that doesn't mean it won't pass an hour and half easily. It's funny, it's sweet, it's nice.

Great Chemistry Between Coogan And Rudd
Solid Blend Of Comedy And Drama
Some Jokes Miss The Mark

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Ideal Home – Review

Ideal Home follows Paul (Paul Rudd) and Erasmus (Steve Coogan). Paul produces Erasmus’ cooking show, featuring cultural appropriation and oblivious decadence, highlighting the couple’s separation from the world outside of their high-society, Santa Fe bubble. Bill, Erasmus’ forgotten grandson from a crime-laden home, shows up in need of the couple’s help at a dinner party, disrupting the ambient noise of privilege and gossip.

At the beginning, Paul and Erasmus are the main focus. They joke about their gayness confidently, owning the stereotypes of their identity, and taking the power away from those who stereotype them negatively. Rudd and Coogan, however, are openly straight, which makes this ownership of the humour feel slightly stolen. The writer-director, Andrew Fleming, thought up the film’s concept 10 years ago, which may explain the trickles of staleness that result from the satirical, over-the-top portrayal of gayness by straight actors. Though this seeps through at times, it doesn’t necessarily ruin the film.

This is largely because there is genuine chemistry between Rudd and Coogan, which, combined with Bill’s presence, leads to character development for all three as they become parents. Fleming, who based the film on his own experience of being in a same-sex relationship and a parent, also casts openly gay actors as straight. They are often homophobic or pretentiously rich, diffusing gayness from being the joke of the film. For example, Paul and Erasmus have an interaction with a “dad-bod” straight man who nervously repeats “she was” when alluding to his sexual history. Homophobia and fragile masculinity becomes the joke as Paul winks knowingly, “A girrrl?”

Watching Ideal Home can be, especially at the beginning of the film, like eating an old piece of candy. It tastes sweet but sometimes you can’t help feeling its outdatedness.

RATING: 2/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Paul Rudd, Steve Coogan, Kate Walsh, Jack Gore, Alison Pill, Jake McDorman

DIRECTOR: Andrew Fleming

WRITER: Andrew Fleming

SYNOPSIS: A gay couple living a lavish, career-driven lifestyle are forced to pay attention to the importance of their relationship after the unexpected arrival of a child.

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In ‘Good One,’ a family camping trip is full of emotional switchbacks

Justin Chang

Lily Collias brings a nearly wordless intensity as Sam in Good One. Smudge Films hide caption

Too often, the month of August is regarded as a fallow period for moviegoing, after the big blockbusters of the summer but before the awards contenders of the fall. But the aptly titled new movie Good One is a reminder that there are always smart, interesting films being released, if you’re willing to look beyond the obvious. As it turns out, looking beyond the obvious is something that the writer-director India Donaldson has a real knack for. In just 90 minutes, she tells a three-character story that appears simple enough on the surface, yet it’s so sharp and engrossing that you might not immediately notice the deeper story taking shape underneath.

Lily Collias plays 17-year-old Sam, who’s going backpacking in the Catskills with her father, Chris — that’s the terrific James Le Gros in a too-rare leading role. They’re supposed to be joined by Chris’ oldest friend, Matt, and his teenage son, Dylan. But Matt winds up being the only one to come along; he and Dylan’s mom are recently divorced, and Dylan isn’t taking it well.

Chris himself has been divorced for a while, and he and Sam have a pretty harmonious relationship by comparison. They seem to get along even when they’re bickering, as happens when Chris criticizes Sam’s driving.

Much of the movie consists of Sam listening quietly as Chris and Matt go on and on, reminiscing about old times yet always finding new things to grouse about. Chris, a savvy outdoorsman, can’t stop complaining about how badly Matt has overpacked for a three-day hiking trip.

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While the two men rarely ask Sam how she’s doing or feeling, they seem cool enough where it counts. Chris has long been supportive of his daughter’s queer identity; she has a girlfriend whom she texts during the trip, whenever she can get a cellphone signal. Matt tells Sam that she’s wise beyond her years: Unlike all the other reckless, rebellious teenagers out there, she’s a rare “good one” in his book.

Scene by scene, however, writer-director Donaldson paints a subtler picture of the dynamics at work. At times Good One reminded me of Kelly Reichardt ’s quietly perceptive 2006 drama, Old Joy , which also squeezed a lot of emotional history into a fateful camping trip.

You get the sense that Sam has traveled a bunch with her dad and Matt before, and that she’s long adjusted to her designated role. When the three of them share a motel room on their way up to the Catskills, it’s Sam who instinctively rolls out her sleeping bag, without even being asked, leaving the two beds to the men. And once they reach their campsite, it’s Sam who cooks dinner for the three of them without complaint. The dynamics are complicated. Beneath the men’s easygoing manner, there’s an unmistakable air of condescension toward Sam, a sense that their appreciation of her is more conditional than genuine.

If Sam resents them for any of this, she doesn’t show it, at least not at first. Collias gives a beautifully understated performance; with very little effort, she can register everything from wry affection to barely concealed exasperation. And Donaldson, working with the cinematographer Wilson Cameron, proves as keenly observant as her protagonist. She’s alive to the beauty of the mountains, whether it’s the sight of a majestic canyon or the sound of rushing water. Some of the movie’s slow-simmering tension arises from your uncertainty about what might be lurking nearby, whether it’s a bear in search of food or three young men they cross paths with on the hiking trail.

But Good One isn’t one of those movies in which a journey into the wilderness spirals into horror. The dangers that Donaldson introduces are of a more intimate and perhaps more insidious nature. There comes a moment in the story when everything changes, and it’s at once surprising and unsurprising, all too believable and, in the moment, perhaps a little contrived.

But that hardly matters. What matters is how Sam responds to this sudden shift, and Collias shows her unpacking that response almost in real time, and with a nearly wordless intensity. Good One has the concision of a sharply etched short story, but what happens by the end can’t be easily summed up. Sam won’t soon forget the lessons of this particular trip, and neither will we.

Review: In the quietly observed ‘Good One,’ a teenager grapples with aggressions small and big

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A woodsy hike becomes a Petri dish of human nature in “Good One,” writer-director India Donaldson ’s tense, revealing and exquisitely composed feature debut about a 17-year-old at the cusp of adulthood. In its lived-in quality and gathering churn, “Good One” is a dream of an indie, from the craft in every frame to the humor, epiphanies and mysteries that gird its portraiture.

Its watchful soul is a New York daughter of divorce, Sam (Lily Collias, a real find), who with her remarried architect dad, Chris (James Le Gros), is expecting their Upstate excursion to be a backpacking foursome. But when the teenage son of dad’s oldest pal, Matt (Danny McCarthy), bows out at the last second, making them a trio, Sam finds herself without a peer, a deflation that Collias perfectly conveys without words from the SUV’s backseat. Over an endurance test of a weekend, we’ll get to know this Mona Lisa-esque face very well as Sam’s microexpressions and utterances betray fascinating variations on “How did I get here?”

That’s because the trip quickly becomes the Matt and Chris show, a long-running two-hander stuffed with bickering, personality tics and grievances that suggests a friendship of opposites long past its sell-by date. Sam’s gently patronizing dad, masterfully rendered by one of our most underappreciated actors (when will James Le Gros get his Oscar?), is an uptight, over-organized weekend warrior with little tolerance for his old chum’s shambolic quality and self-mythologizing patter. Matt, meanwhile, is avuncular and parlor-philosophical, but in McCarthy’s perfectly captured performance of an ego barely hanging on by some well-chewed fingernails, he can barely hide how depressed he is about a life gone sideways, or how hurt he is by Chris’s jabs.

It all leaves Sam in a situation where she’s not only a lone target for the pair’s “These kids today”-style ribbing, but also, by turns, a personal assistant, cook, advisor and peacekeeper. (When Sam tends to her period squatting behind a tree, the vibe is of a worker’s ill-timed break.) A quality getaway with loved ones starts to feel like managing a suffocating situation. Even her sympathy gets weaponized: When she indulges Matt’s harmlessly random musings or laughs with him, you can feel her father’s irritation rise.

“Good One” is soexpert at tracking a young woman’s emotional intelligence — as amusing, preciseand patient as a Kelly Reichardt film like “Certain Women” — that when the moment arrives when everything shifts, it’s a legitimate surprise. Don’t call it a twist, though. (No spoilers here.) It’s a built-in hinge, and the melodrama-averse Donaldson treats it as such, letting it open the door for a final act of decision-making and discovery that positions Sam as emerging from this odd, illuminating trip a more self-possessed individual.

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So much of this psychologically complex movie’s artistry is wonderfully assured, from cinematographer Wilson Cameron’s textured intimacy with nature and faces, to the tenderly applied, deceptively varied music. But what most gives me hope for Donaldson as a filmmaker, however, is how much she cares about the lost magic of scene work, those building blocks of human interaction — movement, composition, dialogue, pacing, depth and in this case the gifts of an incredible newcomer in Collias — that fuse us to a movie’s internal logic, its intangibles. “Good One” is as complete a piece of storytelling as you’ll see all year. For a pot of frogs coming to a boil, it’s a great place to be.

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Rating: R, for language Running time: 1 hour, 29 minutes Playing: Opens Friday at Landmark Theatres Sunset, Los Angeles

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Big-screen TV
Media console
TV wall mount
Speaker system
A/V receiver
Speaker stands
HDMI cables
Speaker wires
Streaming device
4K Blu-ray player
Gaming console

I'm a professional TV reviewer and these are the 11 items that make up my dream home theater setup

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As the home entertainment tech editor for Insider Reviews, it should come as no surprise that I'm a huge home theater nerd. When I watch movies in my living room, I want to experience them on the biggest screen I can get my hands on and with as many speakers as I can fit in my apartment. After reviewing AV (audio-visual) products for more than a decade, I've used my expertise to build my own dream home theater system.

Over the years, I've pieced together these components to fit within my budget and space. From a big-screen OLED and affordable TV stand to a powerful Dolby Atmos receiver and reliable streaming device , these products deliver the movie-watching experience I've always wanted.

If you're looking for recommendations for a killer entertainment system, these items are all great options that continue to deliver excellent performance in my daily use.

An extra-large OLED 4K TV

LG's C3 OLED offers an infinite contrast ratio with perfect black levels that disappear into a dark room. Its color performance can't quite match that of Samsung's OLEDs that use quantum dots, but the 77-inch C3 is often a bit cheaper than Samsung's rival option at this size.

A good display is the centerpiece of any home theater, and, as far as I'm concerned, the bigger, the better. After seeing the distance between my couch and the living room wall, I splurged on a 77-inch 4K OLED to get that big movie theater feel. The best OLED TVs are pricier than QLED and LED options, but they offer a big jump in black-level performance, which leads to a top-notch movie-watching experience in a dark room.

I own LG's CX OLED from 2020, but that model has been replaced by the company's newer 2023 C3 and 2024 C4 , which offer a brighter picture and improved image processing. If you're willing to pay a little extra, I also recommend the 77-inch Samsung S90C OLED as an alternative. The S90C costs a bit more but has an edge in color performance. Samsung didn't sell OLEDs when I bought my TV, but if the S90 series was around back then, it would have been a top contender for my setup.

For even more big-screen display recommendations from other brands, check out our guides to the best TVs , best 4K TVs , and best 75-inch TVs .

A wide TV console with big storage cubbies

This TV console from Walker Edison is wide enough for TVs as big as 80 inches. It’s available in different wood tones and has six open-storage compartments.

This affordable Walker Edison media console has everything I need. It's one of the best TV stands for larger displays and offers an understated look with a wide 70-inch surface. I also love its six storage cubbies which are large enough to house all my components and open enough to offer solid airflow. Many TV consoles have closed cabinets (which aren't good for storing electronics that can overheat) or smaller shelves that can't fit big devices like an AV receiver. Build quality isn't on par with pricier pieces of furniture, but it gets the job done for my needs without any issues.

A mount to keep my display on the wall

This Rocketfish TV mount supports displays up to 90 inches. It doesn't pull out from the wall, but it does offer basic titling.

To fix LG's massive display on my living room wall, I opted for this simple Rocketfish mount. It offers some range to tilt the TV and shift it horizontally, but it doesn't pull out for full flexibility. I also opted for Best Buy's mounting service so I didn't have to worry about dropping a 77-inch TV.

A complete Dolby Atmos speaker system

Jamo's S 809 floor-standing speakers deliver excellent audio performance for home theaters. Color options include walnut, white, and black. Note: This listing only includes two speakers. To create a full surround sound system, you need to purchase a Jamo center channel, subwoofer, rear speakers, and Dolby Atmos modules separately.

This Jamo speaker setup that I pieced together lets me hear sound from every direction, even from above my head. My configuration includes left and right tower speakers , a center speaker , two rear satellite speakers , a subwoofer , and four Dolby Atmos speaker modules . The Atmos modules attach directly to the tops of my front and rear speakers. They use angled audio drivers to bounce sound off the ceiling, which adds an extra level of immersion to certain scenes, like during sequences where rain is falling from the sky. Check out our " What is Dolby Atmos? " explainer for more details about the audio format.

Though this setup is a great fit for my living room, not everyone has the space for a full-sized speaker rig. If that's the case for you, I recommend visiting our guides to the best soundbars and the best Dolby Atmos soundbars for more compact audio setups.

A beefy A/V receiver to power and process my speakers

Denon's high-end AV receiver can support up to 9.4 channels of audio with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X capabilities, along with HDMI 2.1 support.

This 9.4-channel Denon receiver has the specs to power all nine of my speakers and my subwoofer without any issues. It also has plenty of HDMI ports to connect other devices, like my Blu-ray player and cable box, to my TV. If you have fewer speakers, I recommend a cheaper receiver, like the 7.2-channel Denon AVR-S760H .

I own Denon's older AVR-X3600H , but that model has now been replaced by the brand's newer AVR-X3800H . The X3800H adds HDMI 2.1 passthrough for connected devices and support for two additional subwoofers.

Sturdy stands to keep my rear speakers in place

These stands are great for securely placing satellite speakers in your room.

I have pets, and they love to knock into things. This was a problem with some flimsy speaker stands I used to own, so I decided to go with something heftier for my current setup. These Perlegear stands feel sturdy and don't knock over easily. My speakers don't quite clamp in completely, but they're secured enough that I never worry about them falling off.

Lots of HDMI cables to easily connect everything

This affordable cable can transmit 4K/120Hz signals with support for all HDMI 2.1 features. It comes in sizes that range from three to 10 feet.

I've amassed multiple drawers full of HDMI cables over the years, but I find these Amazon Basics ultra-high-speed ones to be the most reliable for the money. The six-foot option costs less than $10 and offers support for full 48Gbps bandwidth to transmit HDMI 2.1 features like 4K/120Hz, variable refresh rate (VRR), and auto low latency mode (ALLM). These inexpensive cords should be enough for most needs, but if you want something longer or more durable check out our guide to all the best HDMI cables for more recommendations.

Speaker wires with banana plugs for hassle-free setup

These handy speaker wires come with banana plugs attached to offer a simple and secure connection to your audio components.

I know many home theater enthusiasts consider it a simple task, but I hate stripping speaker wire and feeding the threads into audio terminals. Dealing with stripped wire is especially annoying if you ever need to relocate speakers or swap in a new AV receiver. That's why I love these Monoprice banana plug speaker cables .

They cost more than typical wires but come with plugs attached, so you can simply pop them into your speakers and receiver (as long as they have banana plug ports) to get a secure connection without any cutting or twisting. I also run some handy cord covers across my floor and under my rug to feed these cables to my rear speakers for a clean, tidy look.

A reliable Roku to stream my favorite apps

The Roku Ultra is the most comprehensive streaming device in its class, with 4K playback, support for every major HDR format, a rechargeable voice remote, and some extra perks like an Ethernet port and USB input.

LG's smart TVs have a decent built-in platform for apps, but I like using a dedicated streaming player to get the snappiest performance. The Roku Ultra gets the job done with support for all the best streaming services and all the video and audio formats I need. I also prefer Roku's simple interface over other options, which can get a bit cluttered and overwhelming. The Ultra is my pick for the best streaming device overall, but there are great Apple TV , Fire TV , and Google TV alternatives if you prefer those systems.

A 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player to watch movies in the best quality

The Panasonic DP-UB820 is pricier than a lot of other 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray players, but it offers comprehensive HDR format support and advanced processing.

Yes, I'm one of those people who still buy Blu-rays. Though I also stream plenty of content, I prefer discs to get the very best video and audio quality. And with a shelf full of discs, I never need to worry about my favorite movies suddenly getting pulled from streaming services. This Panasonic 4K Blu-ray player offers excellent performance, and it's one of the few models out there that supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+. Check out our " What is HDR? " guide for more details on the pros and cons of different high-dynamic-range formats.

A gaming console to play the latest titles

The PS5 is one of the best consoles thanks to its powerful hardware, exclusives, and 4K Blu-ray drive. Though it costs $50 more than the digital-edition PS5, this model lets you play game discs. This slim version of the console is also slightly smaller than the original and has 1TB of storage.

My go-to gaming system right now is the PS5. I went with the disc version versus the digital edition since it lets me play used copies of games, and it's nice to have an extra 4K Blu-ray player handy if I ever want to bring one into another room.

I'm also a huge Zelda and Mario fan, so I own a Nintendo Switch to ensure I never miss the latest entries in those franchises. And though I've yet to invest in an Xbox Series X or S, I do have an older Xbox One X that I use with Game Pass .

Main content

IMAGES

Ideal Home
Movie Review
Ideal Home Review
Ideal Home
Ideal Home Review: Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan Play Gay in Weak Comedy
Ideal Home (2018)

COMMENTS

Ideal Home movie review & film summary (2018)
Erasmus swans around his palatial ranch while filming a program about in-authentic Mexican and Indian food, including kitschy-sounding fusion platters like "Tandoori lobster." Erasmus also drinks too much, and makes big displays of emotion that are—as Paul correctly intuits—essentially insincere. This leaves Paul to do most of the day-to ...
Ideal Home (2018)
Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/24/24 Full Review Gareth v While the lead characters are terribly cliched, the movie gets by on it's heartwarming and socially aware story.
Review: A Child Adds a Layer to Gay Couple's 'Ideal Home'
Directed by Andrew Fleming. Comedy, Drama. 1h 31m. By Teo Bugbee. June 28, 2018. As two well-heeled aesthetes living in a version of gay paradise, where one partner hosts a cooking show that the ...
Ideal Home (film)
Ideal Home is a 2018 American comedy-drama film, written and directed by Andrew Fleming and starring Steve Coogan, Paul Rudd, Alison Pill, Jake McDorman, ... the film holds an approval rating of 68%, based on 56 reviews, and an average rating of 5.8/10. The critical consensus reads: "Ideal Home benefits from the chemistry between a well-chosen ...
'Ideal Home' Review
Release date: Jun 29, 2018. "Part of me wants to stick around just to watch him die," Paul says, not entirely kidding. He also observes about his partner that "he's like Butch Cassidy ...
Ideal Home
Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 18, 2019. Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd star in Ideal Home, a comedy about an upper middle-class couple that feels out of touch, and severely outdated. Full ...
Review: Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd enliven gay adoption comedy 'Ideal Home'
Review: Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd enliven gay adoption comedy 'Ideal Home'. Equal parts sweet and tart, director Andrew Fleming's "Ideal Home" is the cinematic equivalent of Sour Patch ...
Ideal Home (2018)
Ideal Home: Directed by Andrew Fleming. With Steve Coogan, Paul Rudd, Jesse Luken, Evan Bittencourt. A bickering gay couple must suddenly deal with the unexpected task of raising a 10-year-old boy.
Film Review: 'Ideal Home'
Editor: Jeffrey M. Werner. Music: John Swihart. With: Steve Coogan, Paul Rudd, Jack Gore, Alison Pill, Jake McDorman, Jesse Luke, Eric Womack, Jenny Gabrielle, Lora Martinez-Cunningham. As a gay ...
Ideal Home review: A good deal fresher and more irreverent than most
Dir Andrew Fleming, 89 mins, starring: Paul Rudd, Steve Coogan, Jake McDorman, Jack Gore, Kate Walsh, Alison Pill. Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd play a gay couple reluctantly caring for a surly boy ...
Ideal Home Review
The forgettable title and cookie-cutter concept may seem lazy, but Coogan and Rudd work their asses off to make Erasmus and Paul the most memorable screen gay men since The Birdcage. It's ...
Ideal Home (2018)
8/10. Genuine and hilarious. rivertam26 29 July 2020. Ageless hunk Paul Rudd (Clueless) and Steve Coogan (Philomena) star as an older gay couple who suddenly inherit a child. The child belongs to Coogans a.k.a Erasmus son played by sexy Jake McDorman (Greek) after being arrested. They live an R rated lifestyle but it's hilarious to watch them ...
Ideal Home (2018) Movie Review from Eye for Film
Reviewed by: Andrew Robertson. "Ideal Home isn't perfect, but 'lovely' doesn't do it justice." Tweet. The first thing we see in Ideal Home is a child's escape from a motel room, one punctuated by thwarted parental ambition, legal complications, a lack of recognition. It's a striking start, suddenly and sweepingly replaced by the opening montage ...
Ideal Home review
Ideal Home, his first film since 2014's Barefoot (itself his only feature in a decade, with Fleming instead concentrating on TV work), reunites him with Steve Coogan, his Hamlet 2 star. It's ...
Ideal Home
Erasmus and Paul (Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd) are a bickering gay couple whose life is turned inside out when a ten-year old boy shows up at their door claiming to be Erasmus' grandson. Neither Paul, nor Erasmus, are ready to give up their extravagant lifestyles to be parents, but maybe this little kid has thing or two to teach them about the value of family.
Review: Ideal Home
Writer-director Andrew Fleming's Ideal Home depicts the decadent lifestyle of Erasmus (Steve Coogan), the pompous host of a basic cable cooking show, and Paul (Paul Rudd), his producer and life partner. Their relationship is defined by incessant bickering, with temporary truces called only when they're entertaining at their Santa Fe ranch, or when their inherent horniness for each other ...
'Ideal Home' Film Review: Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan Become ...
"Ideal Home" contains some big laughs, especially a sex scene between Erasmus and Paul that ends with Erasmus crying, "Oh, 'Dances with Wolves'!" (It makes sense only in context.)
'Ideal Home' Film Review: Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan Become Unlikely
June 26, 2018 @ 11:45 AM. Writer-director Andrew Fleming is one of the best and most underrated makers of comedies today, and his new film "Ideal Home" is delightful in spite of a premise that ...
Ideal Home
I think I only want to see the gay dad, dad beard version of Paul Rudd from now on. Synopsis: Paul and celebrity chef Erasmus live an extravagant, self-indulgent life. When the grandson they never knew existed crashes their fancy dinner party, their lives are turned upside-down. (Brainstorm Media) Starring: Paul Rudd, Steve Coogan, and Jake McDorman Writer: Andrew Fleming Director: Andrew ...
'Ideal Home' Review: Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan Dazzle In an Ill-Fitted
The whole party reacts superficially like Bill is just another silly story that happened at one of Erasmus and Paul's crazy parties. It makes for a funny scene and fits with their character, but ...
Ideal Home Review: Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan Play Gay in Weak Comedy
Read More: 'The Catcher Was a Spy' Review: Paul Rudd's Baseball-Driven World War II Thriller Is an Atomic Bomb There are Steve Coogan movies, and then there are Steve Coogan movies, and this ...
Ideal Home Movie Review
Ideal Home stars Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd (Ant-Man & The Wasp, Ghostbusters: Afterlife) as a couple who must contend with an unexpected addition to their family.. Coogan plays a flamboyant and irresponsible celebrity chef called Erasmus. Paul, is his husband and the producer of his tv show. Together more than ten years, life for the couple looks good on camera.
Ideal Home
Andrew Fleming's Ideal Home offers some stale ideas and comedy, yet flies thanks to the genuine chemistry between Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd. ... The Simpsons Movie - The Last Link to the Show's Golden Age. Jack Blackwell. July 25, 2017. Features, Love Letter, Nostalgia. Recent. ... Ideal Home - Review. Sarah J. July 8, 2018. Reviews ...
'Good One' review: A family camping trip is full of emotional
On its surface, Good One is about a teen on a backpacking trip with her dad and his friend. But the film is so sharp and engrossing you might not notice the deeper story taking shape underneath.
'Good One' review: A teenager grapples with male aggressions
A woodsy hike becomes a Petri dish of human nature in "Good One," writer-director India Donaldson's tense, revealing and exquisitely composed feature debut about a 17-year-old at the cusp of ...
Home Theater: 11 Products for Building a Dream Setup
This affordable Walker Edison media console has everything I need. It's one of the best TV stands for larger displays and offers an understated look with a wide 70-inch surface. I also love its ...

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Film Review: ‘Ideal Home’

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Reviewed on-line, June 20, 2018. MPAA Rating: Not rated. Running time: 94 MIN.

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Ideal Home review: A good deal fresher and more irreverent than most family fables

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Ideal Home Review

Ideal Home (2018)

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Erasmus and Paul have their life turned upside down when a ten-year old boy shows up at their door claiming to be Erasmus' grandson. Reluctant to give up their extravagant lifestyles to be parents, they must adapt or risk losing the child. A really funny movie that has it's dramatic moments.

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