By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Viggo Mortensen
Starring: Carina Battrick | Hannah Gross | Lance Henriksen | Laura Linney | Sverrir Gudnason | Terry Chen | Viggo Mortensen
Country: canada, denmark, united_kingdom
Year: 2021
Running time: 112
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9143112/reference
Michael says: “In what must surely be a very personal story, Viggo Mortenson’s directorial debut, which he also wrote, tackles the thorny relationship between an aging, abusive father now suffering from dementia, and his adult, gay son. John lives a life in California with his partner, Eric, that is light years away, both geographically and culturally from his childhood upbringing on a farm in a conservative, rural area. His father, Willis, angered quickly, eventually driving his wife and children away. Now Willis has lost his second wife as well, and lives a solitary life on the farm where they grow up. John and his sister, Sarah, are trying to relocate him to California where he will be closer and receive better care, but his growing dementia alternating with his crass, insulting viewpoints of nearly everything around him, makes it difficult, not only on his children, but on John’s daughter, and Sarah’s children as well.
“While this film is telling an important story that is not often shown in movies, there is something a little tiresome in seeing John responding so passively to his father’s horrifically insulting behavior toward him and those he loves. It goes on a little more than is needed to make the point, and there could have been other ways to increase the tension and drama of the story. Acting is strong all around, with Mortenson as John, in a very different role than he usually tackles, and Lance Hendrickson putting in a truly vile turn as Willis. Nice to see Laura Linney in a small role as Sarah, and Terry Chen brings Eric to life in a way that seems very authentic.
“As a writer/director, Mortenson does a fair job — again a some judicious editing and a tighter script would have gone far, but as a first try, he acquits himself well. 3 cats“