Dysfunctional family units to put a smile on your dial

With the quirky wrestling comedy Fighting With My Family playing previews in cinemas this weekend, here are five more streaming options where malfunctioning family units will put a smile on your dial.

With the quirky wrestling comedy Fighting With My Family playing previews in cinemas this weekend, here are five more streaming options where dysfunctional family units will put a smile on your dial.

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Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller star in cracking comedy Meet the Parents.

MEET THE PARENTS (2000)

Foxtel Now

***1/2

Though too many sequels ruined the reputation of the MTP franchise, the original is still a cracking mainstream comedy in its own right. Robert De Niro is Jack Byrnes, a prospective father-in-law that could only exist in the nightmares of husbands-to-be. Therefore a flying weekend visit by hapless male nurse Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is not destined to impress the father of the woman of his dreams.

Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo star in well-observed and well-acted comedy The Kids Are All Right.

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (2010)

SBS on Demand

****

Same-sex partners Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore) took turns to conceive a child from the same anonymous sperm sample. Now their teenage offspring would like to know who their father is. Turns out that donor-Dad (Mark Ruffalo) is very much the progressive, free-spirited type that Nic and Jules used to be. And wished they still were. A shrewd, well-observed (and well-acted) comedy.

John C Reilly and Will Ferrell star in underrated gem Step Brothers.

STEP BROTHERS (2008)

Stan

***

An underrated gem from occasional screen duo Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. Brennan (Ferrell) is 40, unemployed, and still living at home with his mother (Mary Steenburgen). Same goes for Dale (Reilly) and his father (Richard Jenkins). When the two single parents become engaged, the roof is amusingly ripped off the sheltered lifestyle of their overgrown, underachieving kids.

Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche star in very entertaining rom-com Dan in Real Life.

DAN IN REAL LIFE (2008)

Google, iTunes

***1/2

While paying a visit to his extended family, lonely newspaper advice columnist Dan (Steve Carell) meets the kind of woman he has always been holding out for, Marie (Juliette Binoche). The chemistry between the pair just keeps getting stronger, even after Dan learns Marie happens to be his brother’s new girlfriend. A very entertaining rom-com well worth the trackdown.

Emily Blunt and Amy Adams star in unassuming indie comedy Sunshine Cleaning.

SUNSHINE CLEANING (2009)

Stan

***

This gentle, unassuming US indie comedy is the story of two sisters (Amy Adams and Emily Blunt) who start a family business mopping up crime scenes. Despite its downbeat concept, don’t write this off as a feature-length equivalent of a grotty CSI episode. The film turns out to be quite a succinct and appealing study of a family doing what they must to keep their heads above water.

Originally published as Dysfunctional family units to put a smile on your dial