“Before You Know It” starts off with a quirky tone as we are introduced to the dysfunctional Gurner family who live in an apartment above their small, family-owned theater in New York City. The family consists of two thirty-something sisters Rachel (co-writer and director Hannah Pearl Utt) and Jackie (co-writer Jen Tullock). Rachel, the younger, more introverted sibling works as a stage manager, assisting with the writing and developing of work by their playwright father Mel (Mandy Patinkin). Jackie, the immature older sibling, spends so much time trying to figure out her own life that her pre-teen daughter Dodge (Oona Yaffe) is left to go-it-alone.
Cool set-up. So much potential, right? But the movie soon starts switching tones from quirky, to serious, to dramatic, and never really settles. After the unexpected passing of their father, Rachel and Jackie must now face adulthood, for what appears to be the first time ever. What are they going to do about their family-owned theater, earning an income, or even finishing their father’s final play?
Shortly after his passing, the sisters learn that their presumably deceased mother is actually a famous soap opera actress Sherrell Ghearhardt (played by Judith Light). So, the sisters seek her out to help put the pieces of their family together, and maybe have some of their questions answered regarding their childhood abandonment.
As this relationship with their mother develops, other subplots are introduced which are never really explored such as:
Charles (Mike Colter) is an accountant hired to figure out the family finances. We spend some time with him after the sisters leave him to be an impromptu babysitter to Dodge. Dodge and Charles’ daughter quickly become friends and bond over their shared experiences with bereavement. There seems to be some interest from Jackie towards Charles, and the two girls work to try and match them up (think: a lame version of the Parent Trap).
Peter (Alec Baldwin) is a child-therapist who works with Dodge, but his appearance seems to be more or less inserted into the film for the purposes of adding it to the trailer to make you say, “Oh, Alec Baldwin is in this film!” He is, but it’s more or less a cameo.
“Before You Know It,” the movie is over and you are left with more questions than answers. I was disappointed with all of the floundered opportunities in the film, but I was pleased that, ultimately, Rachel and Jackie’s existential crises were resolved.