Netflix’s latest original movie, A Family Affair, directed by Richard LaGravenese, starring Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, Joey King, Liza Koshy, and Kathy Bates, has now officially landed on the streaming platform.
Admittedly, when the trailer was first released along the star-cast line-up, there were certain expectations attached to the movie, but the audience was certain that A Family Affair would offer nothing new, and sadly, that’s exactly what happened.
A Family Affair tried almost a little too hard to be different, bringing in emotional aspects, meaningful relationships, and even Kathy Bates, but none of it really worked in its favor.
Nevertheless, in this review, we will help you decide whether or not A Family Affair deserves a spot on your Netflix watchlist for the coming weekend!
Kathy Bates Couldn’t Save A Family Affair
A Family Affair has all well-known names of actors and actresses who are loved globally, but it is also important to know that this movie starred the legendary Kathy Bates. Although Bates wasn’t the lead actress in the movie, she definitely brought plenty of star power with her.
If you end up watching A Family Affair, make sure you watch several of Bates’ movies (Misery, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret) to cleanse your palette, because you will need it.
This Netflix romantic-comedy revolves around Chris Cole played by Zac Effron, who is a movie star, and an obnoxious one, which is established in the opening scene of A Family Affair, where it looks like he’s about to propose, but instead breaks up with his girlfriend, in the same fashion he dumps most women.
The one person who is aware of his notorious behavior is Zara, his assistant, played by Joey King.
Zara and Chris never see eye to eye, they are constantly arguing, and yelling at one another, and frankly, after a point, it becomes rather unbearable and does not add any quality to the movie.
The tone and narrative change with Zara’s mother, Brooke, played by Nicole Kidman, gets involved with Chris. After this, the plot of A Family Affair is pretty basic and straightforward, with no unique plot twists, in fact, you can see them come from a mile away.
Of course, A Family Affair has a happy ending with Chris and Brooke getting together, thanks to Zara, again, very cliche and expected. There’s almost nothing to look forward to in this movie, and even the steamy scenes between Effron and Kidman that were blasted in the promos and trailers felt completely cold and flat when actually played out in the movie.
The only redeeming factor of A Family Affair is that everyone looks good, despite the fillers and botox.
Conclusion
A Family Affair definitely wasn’t our cup of tea, but if you need a quick watch over the weekend when you have nothing else to stream, this might be an okay-ish escape. While we’re on the subject of Netflix, we would highly recommend Supacell, as opposed to Richard LaGravenese’s romantic comedy!