Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks make this tale of broken families work despite predictable plotting – both dialling down the brasher elements of their on-screen personas to bring genuine heart to a drama that toys with audience emotion via contrivances.
Pine is sales spiv Sam, who returns home for his estranged father’s funeral to discover Pa has left cash to a sister he never knew he had (Banks).
After a meet-cute, does Sam admit to her who he is? Or inveigle himself into her life with her poppet son?
Nicely lensed and sympathetically played, People Like Us is sweet but insubstantial.
