In the Smart household, not everything can be perfect. But for Buddy (Bryan Cranston), a regional theater producer with Broadway dreams, there is always a little bit of good to be found. His wife, Macy (Allison Janney) shares some of that sentiment, but she is the more pragmatic one of the two, something that is shared by her son, Derrick (Jack Champion). Their other son, Lester (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), is more like his father and dreams of making it on Broadway. You can check out my thoughts on Everything’s Going to be Great below.

Everything’s Going to be Great

What makes Everything’s Going to be Great interesting is its subversion. Rather than Lester being the odd son out, it’s Derrick with his football dreams. In their world, being different is praised, and there is nothing wrong with being yourself. For Lester, a Kurt Hummel proxy if there ever was one, he is his dad’s golden child. He wants a life with the stage, and unlike Derrick he revels in Buddy’s always-on attitude.

Everything's Going to be Great

Buddy’s view on life is that your wealth isn’t measured by what you make or what you have. It’s in the experience and the company you keep. He is steadfastly optimistic even when it looks like he shouldn’t be. There is no doubt that Cranston, whose own father was a lot like Buddy, drew from his own childhood for this role.

Macy hates her husband’s optimism and the wedge it’s driven into their marriage. Janney gives her as much dimension as she can, but much like Buddy, they are as they’re presented. With not much room to change or recover from their separate issues. She’s turned to God in recent years because of the decades of failure, and circumstances have left her unmoored and feeling distant.

Families aren’t perfect, but that is what makes them perfect

Written by Steven Rogers (I, Tonya) and directed by Jon S. Baird (Tetris), Everything’s Going to be Great has a lot of heart that makes up for some otherwise thin moments throughout. It can be funny, but it is also a coming-of-age story for these two boys. Life doesn’t always throw you softballs, and how you handle it is what can shape you.

There is also the theme of escapism. In most stories, kids like Lester are the outcasts who turn to theater because it is where they feel welcomed. For Lester, it is his whole world, and how he deals with issues. We see him talking to imaginary figures of legendary people; Noël Coward (Mark Caven) and Tallulah Bankhead (Laura Benanti) to name a few, not as if they are friends who need to reassure him, but equals who encourage him to do things like steal extra time on stage because he doesn’t feel like his parents give him enough.

Rogers makes it every bit as quirky as I, Tonya and then some. But he doesn’t skimp on the drama of it all, either. He has a way of creating a perfect balance of laughter and emotion. One moment you’ll be chuckling, and then the next you’ll be hit with a wave of emotion so tall you’re left breathless with it. Though imperfect, so are we, and this is one film that you will leave the theaters thinking about for days to come.

Everything’s Going to be Great premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. You can check out more movie and series reviews by following us at thathashtagshow.com.