The Hollars is an independent dramatic comedy film that focuses on a dysfunctional family as they attempt to deal with troubles from their past and the uncertainties of their future.

The film stars an excellent cast of actors with the talents of John Krasinski, Margo Martinez, Sharlto Copley, Richard Jenkins, Anna Kendrick, and Charlie Day at the film’s disposal. Their superb acting covers for the film’s major problem.

Unfortunately, the film suffers for its poor pacing. Every scene feels rushed as the audience is swept along with the story that the film is desperately trying to cram into an hour and forty five minutes. Moviegoers might feel like some parts of the film don’t get resolved because of the film’s rushed pacing.

It’s not as bad as it sounds though. The film does a great job of instilling strong emotions of happiness and sadness in it’s viewers. Many of the scenes feel powerful as the film easily induces empathy between the viewers and the characters on screen.

The film’s central plot point focuses on the mother’s medical treatment as it is discovered early in the movie that she has a brain tumor on her frontal lobe. The film depicts her family’s struggles with old faces, new emotions, and the uncertainties of their futures over the course of her treatment.

As the movie progresses it tries to make the viewers empathize with it’s cast of characters, which it does so quite well. There might just be a character for everyone to sympathize with as the characters deal with a considerable amount of issues that range from impending fatherhood to bankruptcy.

Along with it’s tear jerking moments the film also has some nice humor to it. The movie managed to pull off all of it’s jokes quite well. There were never any jokes that fell flat and they fit in quite excellently even in the most melancholy scenes in the film.

Every scene in the film is supplemented by a soundtrack that fits the setting of a small town quite well. The soundtrack provides atmosphere to the somber moments of the film that the actors wouldn’t be able to provide on their own. The soundtrack ties every scene together nicely.
Overall, The Hollars is a film that has it’s fair share of problems but can provide its viewers with some excellent tear jerking moments and some gut busting laughs.