Three decades after his breakthrough in independent cinema, Burns reunites the McMullen clan for a warm, understated sequel about brothers, second chances, and unexpected romances.
Thirty years ago, in the midst of the independent film boom and the effervescence of Sundance, Edward Burns emerged as a New York actor and director of Irish descent who suddenly became a promising figure thanks to his $25,000 debut film, The Brothers McMullen. For a time, he was one of the faces of American independent cinema.
Director: Edward Burns
Writer: Edward Burns
Stars: Edward Burns, Connie Britton, Halston Sage
In the following years, Burns continued to release films with reasonable visibility and moderate success (She’s the One, with Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz; Sidewalks of New York; Ash Wednesday). But soon his star began to fade. He continued to direct—and act in—most of his projects, but his releases went unnoticed, almost invisible. It's surprising to realize that he has made half a dozen feature films in the last fifteen years and that almost no one can name them.
Nothing dramatic happened to his career. Like many filmmakers, trends changed, styles evolved, and the absence of a strong authorial imprint may have relegated him to the margins, while contemporaries like Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Wes Anderson, and Richard Linklater—to whom he is most often compared—became fully established. Beyond the naturalism and spontaneous performances of his casts, the family and neighborhood themes (many of his films are set in Brooklyn), the Irish Catholic roots of many characters, and the romantic stories he gravitates towards, Burns's cinema hasn't left many stylistic traces. In fact, he can be considered a bridge to the later mumblecore movement, which explored similar worlds but in a much more radically independent register. In that sense, Burns ended up being too conventional for independent cinema and too independent for commercial cinema.
The Family McMullen, his fifteenth feature film, won't change that. But now that it's available on HBO Max, it gives him a wider reach. It's a sequel to his debut film, set thirty years later, mixing returning characters with a new generation playing their adult children. It remains a story about siblings, centered on Barry (played by Burns), twice divorced and now hosting his two adult children at his Brooklyn home for Thanksgiving. They are joined by his brother Pat (Michael McGlone) and sister-in-law Molly (Connie Britton, the only cast member who became a true star), now widowed after the death of Jack, the third McMullen brother. Initially, the film attempts to explain who's who and what has happened during the intervening three decades.
Barry remains single, half irresponsible and half cynical. Pat, more formal and religious, is separating from his wife and asks to stay at Barry's for a while. Molly never managed, or perhaps never tried, to start a new relationship; past infidelities and illness have left their mark. The big news is that Barry's daughter, Patty (Halston Sage), is coming to dinner with her fiancé, Terrence Joseph (Bryan Fitzgerald), whom she plans to marry soon. Barry and Molly, for different reasons, aren't entirely on board with the idea, but Pat insists they should support them. Also returning is Tommy (Pico Alexander), who, unlike his sister, has no plans of any kind, romantic or otherwise. While Patty is the "perfect" one, Tommy is basically a clone of his father: a sarcastic comment for every situation and zero interest in commitment.
Filmed in a format that seems, probably for budgetary reasons, quite theatrical, with long dialogue scenes inside Brooklyn homes, The Family McMullen chronicles the fallout after Barry and Molly sow doubts about Patty's wedding plans, suggesting the couple take some time to see other people. Patty ends up staying with her father, and then Tommy announces that he has quit his job and is also moving back home. This sets the stage for a crowded McMullen household and a series of romantic entanglements: Tommy with a woman he meets at a bar (Juliana Canfield), Patty with a plumber (Sam Vartholomeos), Molly with an old friend from the neighborhood (Brian d'Arcy James), and Pat with a woman he lost touch with years ago (Shari Albert). Barry rounds out the list when he unexpectedly runs into an ex-girlfriend (Tracee Ellis Ross), now connected to his life in an unexpected way.
A gentle romantic comedy, built around likable, broadly sketched characters—the irresponsible one, the religious one, the serious one, the advice-giving aunt, etc.—The Family McMullen avoids any truly profound themes, save for a brief moment of reflection in a saccharine ending that gradually reveals the film's Christmas movie nature.
In a way, it functions like a Woody Allen film transplanted to middle-class Irish-American Brooklyn instead of Manhattan's neurotic intellectuals. Burns doesn't aim for anything more: revisiting a group of more or less charming characters, introducing a few new ones, and sharing the direction each of their lives has taken. Meanwhile, half a dozen lighthearted romantic subplots give everyone a chance to re-evaluate their future, or at least their love lives.
Burns still believes that Brooklyn, despite the seismic changes of the last thirty years, remains the kind of place where you run into old friends on the street, at the pub, or in the doctor's waiting room. The Catholic-Irish connection is still present—secondary, but useful for understanding certain characters—as is a family ethic that tries to hold firm despite divorces, deaths, infidelities, separations, and arguments. The McMullens may be very different and constantly bicker (Barry with Pat, Tommy with Patty), but nothing seems capable of breaking their bond. And even if Burns avoids venturing into deeper emotional territory—sometimes missing clear opportunities to do so—The Family McMullen ultimately comes across as a warm and pleasant celebration of neighborhood spirit and family ties.
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