Charming and entertaining, if overlong and a bit too melodramatic, Instructions ultimately works because of the cast.

The film's counterintuitive success is largely due to Derbez, who demonstrates why he is beloved, both south and north of the border.

This sporadically amusing but unduly protracted dramedy devolves into a shameless tearjerker in its third act.

Instructions Not Included's humor, while effective, feels confused as to who it's aimed at. The physical gags are unapologetically slapstick and cartoony.