It's not easy holding your life together, when your marriage seems to go south. Especially when kids are involved. Kids that do pick up on things and will let you know. Throw "Grandpas" Birthday into the mix and playing house almost becomes impossible. But what could have been a sour look filled with drama, is more like a light comedy, about death, family and life in general.

To pull this off, you have to have good actors. And you will not be surprised by the performances of the adults in this. You might be surprised by the performance of the kid actors though. They are really good and help carry the movie. Of course not all is light and fun throughout, but the overall experience is what you could expect :o)

Doug (David Tennant) and Abi McLeod (Rosamund Pike) are getting a divorce. They take a road trip with their young kids Lottie, Mickey, and Jess to attend his father Gordie (Billy Connolly)'s birthday party. They want to keep the split a secret. Gordie is also dying of cancer. His other son Gavin has jittery wife Margaret and emo teenager son Kenneth. Gavin is a wealthy fund manager and plans a big party. Gordie takes off for the beach with the three kids.

Most of all, the kids are adorable and they are great characters. There are some fun family dysfunctions and inappropriate subject matters. There is the big event which would be better later in the movie. The last act does try too hard to bring the family together. The story would flow better as a smaller family comedy without the media and a smaller police presence. That's not to say the last act doesn't have some good laughs and touching moments.

From the makers of the sit com Outnumbered comes this odd mix. David Tennant and Rosamund Pike are Doug and Abi going through a rough patch in their marriage which is on the verge of splitting up. They head off to Scotland with their three children, Lottie, Mickey and Jess to celebrate what could be their grandfather's (Doug's dad,) Gordie last birthday as he is ill with cancer. The couple want to maintain an appearance of happy families for Gordie, the kids though let slip various difficulties their parents are having.

However as the preparations for the party are taking place Gordie dies during a trip to the beach with the children. The kids knowing that all the grown ups just argue decide to give him a Viking funeral that grandad had earlier talked about which causes consternation to the adults when they later find out.

It is a film of two halves. The first part is about dysfunctional families as when we get to Scotland, Doug's brother, a social climber also has problems at home with his wife and son who feel repressed by him. The emphasis on the children who react to the behaviour of the adults around them gives the film a different spin. The second half with the resultant media scrum changes the direction of the film and it just got silly. By that point it ceased to be an observational comedy and not even a drama.

For a film that starts brightly, it takes a left turn which leads to disappointing results even though by the end the adults seemed to have worked through their problems.