Reuniting the Rubins – review

The Royal Tenenbaums meets The Upper Hand in this film from first-time director Yoav Factor. Unfortunately, it's the duff 90s sitcom that sets the tone. Timothy Spall, still in search of a serviceable star vehicle, must reunite warring sprogs Rhona Mitra, Blake Harrison, James Callis and Hugh O'Conor and corral them back to the family home on the dying wish of Gran (Honor Blackman). Plot twists are shoutingly signposted and then wallopingly orchestrated; few characters shake off the thick blanket of caricature while tragic back-stories are whipped out as narrative trump cards with all the taste of strip poker at a funeral. Rubins ultimately sinks beneath the weight of its own gubbins.