Two is a Family is a weapons-grade heart-tugger

A HAPPY-go-lucky playboy living it large on the Côte d’Azur — played by the biggest movie star of African descent on the planet — has a one-night stand that propels him into fatherhood.

A WEAPONS-grade heart-tugger, Two is a Family would border on the unwatchable were it not for the indefatigable charisma of its leading man, Omar Sy.

A huge box-office draw at home in France — and the biggest movie star of African descent on the planet — Sy is best known to Australian audiences for his breakout role in the 2011 hit comedy The Intouchables.

In many ways, he exudes an irresistible appeal and warmth that immediately puts an audience at ease, much like a Dwayne Johnston. However, Sy did not parlay a wrestling career into a screen vocation. He learned his trade in TV sketch comedy, where he found several ways to play against his imposing physical type.

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Actors Gloria Colston and Omar Sy in a scene from Two is a Family.

In this remake of the popular Mexican family film Instructions Not Included (a project once optioned for a Hollywood remake with Johnston, coincidentally), Sy plays Samuel, a happy-go-lucky playboy living it large on the Côte d’Azur.

That is until a one-night stand with a self-centred woman of means — the improbably named Kristin Stuart (Clemence Poesy) — ultimately leaves him with a baby daughter to raise on his own.

After a wonky child-rearing montage comes and goes, it is suddenly eight years later, and Samuel and little Gloria (Gloria Colston) have carved out an idyllic life in London, where he now works as a TV stuntman.

An absentee mother re-enters the scene. A custody battle ensues. You know the rest.

If you look too hard at Two is a Family, its many drawbacks (and just plain lazy storytelling shortcuts) become immediately apparent.

The one distracting example that many viewers will pick up on is the twangy American accent with which Gloria speaks. A not-so-convincing excuse is proffered that this precocious moppet picked up her vocal stylings from watching too many US TV shows.

Even with Omar Sy doing the smiley, haphazard dad-on-L-plates thing to winning effect, a running time of almost two hours tests any lasting enjoyment to the extreme.

Sy, playing Samuel, has a baby daughter to raise on his own after a one-night stand.

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TWO IS A FAMILY (M)

Rating: Two and a half stars (2.5 out of 5)

Director: Hugo Gelin (Just Like Brothers)

Starring: Omar Sy, Clemence Poesy, Antoine Bertand, Clementine Celarie.

A good fit only if you try this on for Sy

Originally published as Two is a Family is a weapons-grade heart-tugger