Movie Review: Hopeful Comedy 'Home Delivery' Delivers Heart, Laughs, and Free Admission for Expectant Mothers
The new film “Home Delivery,” starring an ensemble cast that includes Rainn Wilson, Donald Faison, and Jimmi Simpson, is set to open Friday, and The Western Journal received an advance copy for review.
The movie follows a pregnant woman and her husband who plan to have a homebirth, surrounded by immediate and extended family.
Things don’t go according to plan, though, and hilarity ensues. Not only did each member of the cast give a strong, unique performance, but the writing was surprisingly authentic.
And as a nod to the film’s storyline, “TriCoast Worldwide” is partnering with local pregnancy clinics that support expectant mothers to offer them free tickets, in celebration of this monumental moment in their lives.
You might think you know what you’re in for after seeing the poster and reading the description. Instead of being treated to a simple quirky comedy, however, the audience is given a multi-layered story with relatable dialogue, colorful camera shots, humor of all types, and, most importantly, it’s obvious that the cast enjoyed themselves.
The Western Journal was also granted a phone interview with the writer and director, Thom Harp, who spoke about the movie’s message, his views on comedy, the cast, and why he wanted to tell this story.
“That’s what life is like, if someone says something funny, [people] laugh,” Harp said, when asked about keeping the cameras rolling, even after actors broke character. “There were some moments when people broke on set… I just feel like that adds to the humanity of it and adds to the reality of it.”
“And if they’re laughing, it’s kind of like, oh, you have permission to as well.”
Despite the comedy being raunchy at times, the overall message focused on family, hope, prayer, and healing. Harp said he wanted to “build bridges” between different audiences and focus on the theme of forgiveness.
“If you watch the trailer to this movie and you’re like, ‘I don’t know if that’s for me,’ it might not be, and that’s OK,” he explained. “But if you watch the trailer and you’re like, this seems really fun and funny, it’s going to deliver. It’s also going to have a lot of heart, which is something that was really important for me to have.”
Harp added, “I always feel like the best comedy comes from a place where it feels like it’s happening to real people. And if we can laugh at ourselves, then we can start to forgive ourselves, and when we can forgive ourselves, then we can be more forgiving of other people, and I feel like that’s the way that we start to build bridges.”
“So comedy, for me, is really that way to tear down some walls that we put up between us and give ourselves a little bit of grace.”
As for how he landed such a recognizable cast with a tighter budget, Harp credited casting director Lisa Zagoria, who worked on the Academy Award-winning films “CODA” and “La La Land.”
He also said the cast agreed to equal salaries to make the numbers work, with some of the actors signing on because they were able to play against their type.
Joe Pantoliano, who is known more for “The Sopranos,” or playing the villainous Cypher in “The Matrix,” wanted to play a sympathetic father figure. It was only after Zagoria told Harp about this desire that they were able to recruit him.
Even Simpson, who is often cast as a dark character in shows like Netflix’s “House of Cards” and HBO’s “Westworld,” got to show off his range and play a good guy for once.
Harp said he based some of the most powerful scenes in the movie on real-life events. He also said Simpson’s character was loosely based on himself.
He was proud of how his team of actors actually “formed this family,” that audiences could relate to and root for, calling it a “dream casting and dream experience.”
Despite strong performances from the female leads, Faison — of “Scrubs” fame — Wilson, and Peter MacNicol stole the show.
Wilson’s comedic timing, paired with his dramatic range, made me feel as though I was right there with him, especially when the movie’s tone shifted in the final 20 minutes with the climactic event, based on real life.
The writer-director called Wilson “sweet and soulful,” adding that it was a pleasure to watch him shed the image of Dwight Schrute from NBC’s “The Office,” in favor of something much deeper and kinder.
The chemistry, laughter, tears, prayers, and moments of vulnerability are what made this film so fun to watch. It felt real, but not depressing or preachy, unlike many Hollywood films today.
Harp, who is working on a screen adaptation of a best-selling novel and a separate murder mystery film, kept coming back to the movie being about the two sisters, played by Lindsay Sloan and Melanie Field.
“I really wanted the story to be about the two of them coming together in the end and that the relationship, even though there’s all these other things, wanted to repair that rift,” he explained. “If you look at the story from the two of the sisters’ perspective, it’s really about healing and about them finding common ground and forgiving each other and themselves.”
There’s something in this film for everyone. There’s comedy, romance, sacrifice, drama, family, faith, surprises, and above all, a celebration of life.
It’s worth the price of admission, and then some, for the laughs alone.
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