Parents' Guide to

A Happening of Monumental Proportions

By Michael Ordona, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Language, sexual situations in so-so ensemble comedy.

Movie R 2018 81 minutes
A Happening of Monumental Proportions Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

  • A Happening of Monumental Proportions Movie: Scene #1
  • A Happening of Monumental Proportions Movie: Scene #2
  • A Happening of Monumental Proportions Movie: Scene #3

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What's the Story?

In A HAPPENING OF MONUMENTAL PROPORTIONS, a widowed dad named Daniel (Common) faces a tough day at work as his affair with a married colleague (Jennifer Garner) comes to light and his new boss, Arthur (Bradley Whitford), seems to have it in for him. Daniel's smart young daughter (Storm Reid) meets a new boy (Marcus Eckert) at school who's desperately trying to connect and fit in. One of their teachers (Anders Holm) is suffering an existential crisis after being left by his wife. Meanwhile, the principal (Allison Janney) and her helpers (Rob Riggle and Marla Sokoloff) discover that one of the school's landscapers has died on campus and are baffled by how best to deal with the situation.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Predictably, with an ensemble this size, this comedy's stories and characters are related in thumbnail sketches rather than fully realized. The script struggles to balance the smallness of everyday concerns (a father coming to speak at his daughter's career day, an office coffee maker getting vandalized, a new student feeling awkward) with larger issues (three deaths hang over the film) and outlandish farce elements (a cheated-on husband demands a meeting, a new boss is tyrannical, the police don't investigate a death). As more and more recognizable actors pop up in the cast (John Cho, Katie Holmes, Kumail Nanjiani, Nat Faxon, and more), the center doesn't hold. Is A Happening of Monumental Proportions about nothing mattering that much -- or everything mattering that much? It seems to want it both ways. As a result, when a character goes so far as to contemplate suicide, there's no real tension.

Farce works best when we're along for the desperate ride, but here, too much behavior is unrealistic for the stakes to matter. On the plus side, Common is a likable presence when he wants to be, just as Whitford is always fun to root against. A couple of the cameos are amusing; the final one helps create the funniest part of the film. There are other funny moments, as when a confident kid declares that her father says you should only do what you love -- and when she says he's an accountant, a fed-up adult responds, "And a liar. An accountant and a liar." But ultimately the film might have benefited from some clarity and from convincing its own characters that each moment truly was A Happening of Monumental Proportions.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the meaning of the movie's title. One character specifically refers to school career day as "a happening of monumental proportions," but how do you think it's meant?

  • What would you say the movie is about? Does it have a particular message?

  • Which characters do you consider role models? Why?

Movie Details

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