Ideal Home

And Where The Money In Criminal Justice Is Going

Andrew Fleming, long-time Hollywood director, is a Dad. He decided to make a movie about this, because he’s a specific sort of Dad – he’s a gay Dad, one who had a son immediately thrust into his adult life. I assume those are the specifics – whatever the case, “Ideal Home” is the movie that resulted from this, a lighthearted coming-of-fatherhood-age tale about two Dads in well over their heads.

Erasmus and Paul, played by frequent collaborators Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd, are a hoity-toity gay couple living a fabulous life out in the desert. Erasmus has become the breadwinner, a famous chef and food snob with his own show and cookbooks and small celebrity-chef ecosystem – Paul is his producer, helping keep Erasmus’ head above water and not placed firmly between his cheeks. Erasmus is often intolerable like a lot of Coogan characters – a deeply funny guy, Coogan’s real-life reputation as a rude and obnoxious troublemaker nearly always seeps into his work somehow. And we meet him here when he’s sky-high, without a trouble in the world.

Said trouble arrives in the form of little Bill, who is actually Erasmus’ grandson. While both men are suspicious of a preteen boy showing up and claiming parentage, Erasmus ends the expected banal mystery by unveiling the truth about a long-ago heterosexual hook-up. Now, the source of the suspense is whether these two lovers, awash in a connection-free lifestyle, can ever make room for a third. Given that these oversexualized husbands are used to the solitude – and defiantly against the idea that they must accommodate someone with a diet that’s considerably less finicky than theirs – theoretically, that’s conflict enough.

Fleming is a guy who has made a few funny films – the Nixon comedy “Dick” and the absurdist comedy “Hamlet 2” – but his work generally doesn’t sway far from formula. “Ideal Home” comes from this autobiographical place, but it’s even more beholden to formula than his other films. Both of these men will learn to grow, and they’ll develop domestic instincts. And then the child’s real dad will re-enter the picture, and hey, why not cast an overqualified actor to play a Child Protections Services agent? That would be Allison Pill, yet another role where this wonderful actress has to play straight-man (no pun intended) to funny people.

“Ideal Home” is mostly a sweet little palette-cleanser of a movie, with just enough foul-mouthed humor to produce a few laughs. A similar, more hetero movie was released in the same year, Sean Anders’ “Instant Family”, based on Anders’ own personal experiences as a foster parent. Both movies are fairly dramatically inert, but otherwise pleasant, carried by the charm of their performers (in the case of “Instant Family”, supporting actors Margo Martindale and Tig Notaro, as well as the kids, steal the picture from Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne). Both movies are “one-for-me” in a way that wouldn’t necessarily bother an investor. While “Ideal Home” is definitively R-rated, it feels softened by Rudd’s very hetero-coded performance. Interesting how, in between Marvel performances, Rudd played two gay roles, both of which seemed to vary very little from his heterosexual parts. I’d be interested to hear from a gay viewer about Rudd’s work in both this and “Mute”, provided they remember seeing “Ideal Home”, which I barely do.

Anecdotally, it seems that there have been several stories about the changes within the Justice Department since the Trump Presidency began. Obviously, the Schedule F portion of Project 2025 was implemented (and obviously Trump’s campaign denials about this subject were proof he literally reads nothing), and so there have been mass firings across the board, all the while FBI director Kash Patel has been working from home, and frequently not at all. There are also constant reports of budget cuts, combined with lax regulation of law enforcement regulations – the DEA is no longer using body cams.

Ignoring the obvious hypocrisy of this (the Republicans are the party of “law and order” despite having neither), the question is stark – who are we arresting now? What are federal crimes? What is the agenda of a Department of Justice? We know it’s no longer about justice, but if so, what IS the agenda now? The body cam absences combined with the repeated instances of masked law enforcement individuals arresting innocent people on the street… what do you suppose this means? Do any of you sincerely believe this is not concerning? I would personally like to know, given pie-in-the-sky nonsense like Donald Trump wanting to re-open Alcatraz… what does the Department of Justice do? And are we not supposed to see the signs of open fascism? Please, someone, go ahead and fill in the blanks.