Tremble…Sigh…Wonder…

By James Kenney

Edward Burns is less a brand than a reliable neighborhood deli: maybe you don’t cross town for it, but when you’re there you remember why you keep going back—the coffee’s hot, the counter banter’s warm, and nothing’s trying too hard. The Family McMullen, his thirty-years-later “legacy” sequel to indie success The Brothers McMullen, leans into that comfort. It’s light, unusually conflict-free, and—strangely, appealingly—easy to be around. Less a victory lap for The Brothers McMullen than a return to the loose, ensemble spirit of his 21st century The Fitzgerald Family Christmas (still one of his unheralded best), with a hangout vibe that also echoes the easygoing rhythms of (the also unjustly unheralded) Summer Days, Summer Nights.

Burns sets the reunion in a wide, nicely photographed 2:35-1 frame (not his usual format) and loosens his grip; the movie just breathes. The returning faces help. Loyal Connie Britton, the breakout star of McMullen, slips back in like she never left, and Mike McGlone’s presence is a welcome jolt of the old McMullen dynamic.

Part of the pleasure is the new guard. Pico Alexander—who played Burns’s son in Summer Days, Summer Nights—remains rather likable; he’s got a nice rapport with Burns, again playing his son. Juliana Canfield (Tony-nominated for her Broadway run in Stereophonic) is a solid, attractive actress who slips well into Burns’ world as Alexander’s love interest, whose mother has (surprise!) dallied with Burns in the past.

What’s striking is how little hard plot there is. Confessions are mostly sidelong; arguments fizzle into jokes or hugs. There’s even a romantic strand involving McGlone that feels as if it lost some scenes in the edit, and yet, overall, I wasn’t impatient—I was surprised to find the movie ending and would’ve happily spent another twenty minutes with these people, especially as the film, like Hal Hartley’s recent return, Where to Land, more gently stops than really builds to a conclusion. But I found it most agreeable, and that’s not damning with faint praise; it’s a compliment to the hangout aura Burns cultivates when he’s in this looser, friendlier mood.

As a sequel, Family McMullen also works as a quick career x-ray. The reputation titles (Brothers McMullen, She’s the One) actually aren’t the crown jewels. The true keepers—The Fitzgerald Family Christmas, The Groomsmen, No Looking Back, Summer Days, Summer Nights, and Sidewalks of New York—are where Burns refines his human-scale approach: plausible people, underplayed performances, adult problems without (much) fake hysteria. If Millers in Marriage was the somber swing earlier this year (notable mostly for Campbell Scott’s excellent performance), this one’s the loose grin.

Burns himself has been out stumping for the new work, but one again wonders why he gave up social media when he had a sizeable twitter following once-upon-a-time. Industry-wise, the one-night rollout via Fathom/Warner Bros. underlines what Burns has been saying for years—micro-target the audience that actually shows up. However, as far as I can tell, few know this McMullen sequel even exists; only 9 people attended the 4pm premiere screening at the Union Square Cinema in Manhattan (it’s only playing one day at various screens at various times, I imagine it will be on-demand soon).

If you’re Burns-curious, Family McMullen won’t convert haters, but it will remind the rest of us who remember fondly the 90s indie-film scene when Burns, Kevin Smith, Hal Hartley, Richard Linklater, Allison Anders, Leslie Harris and others could make a film for six-figures or less and have it play nationwide: Burns makes small movies about outer-borough, working-class people and lets actors act. Alexander’s easy rapport with Burns (carried over from Summer Days), Canfield’s grounded intelligence, Britton’s steadiness, McGlone’s rhythm—they make the thing hum. As with Sidewalks of New York, this is less about arcs than accumulations, and you leave feeling like you’ve caught up with friends.

A final note on lineage. In 2012, Burns told Vanity Fair that Tyler Perry encouraged him to “super-serve your niche,” as way of explanation why he might attempt a McMullen sequel (the plot he describes in the interview is not the one found in this movie, although traces of it remain). You can feel that mantra here: not bigger, just better aimed. Burns is a stronger director now. The deli stays open, the regulars keep trickling in, and the coffee’s still hot. Well, warm, anyway.

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