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This is a highly combustible father and son relationship exploration about a belligerent, grandiose thinking and angry father, Jonathan Flynn (an excellent Robert De Niro) who was never there for his child; his neglected son Nick (Paul Dano) who vacillates between trying to care about him now and totally giving up on him. The story is based in truth and richly adapted from Nick Flynn's own Memoir, "Another Bulls**t Night in Suck City". Poignantly directed by Paul Weitz, the film also gives a disturbingly atmospheric account of the homeless in America during the winter months seen through the microcosm that is Boston, an apprehensive opportunity to view this excruciatingly real part of life on the streets.
Nick has been raised by his young mother, Jody (Julianne Moore), who committed suicide when he was 22 years old. Any scenes with Jody are seen while Nick is returning back to his memories of her. His father had left the family much earlier and was divorced by Jody. Nick grew up never knowing his father much at all, but for a stockpile of over one hundred letters which have kept him informed to no clear conclusion about Jonathan's life. All he knew of his father was scribbled on some pages and saved in a box by a lonely young boy.
Jonathan was a cab driver and lost his job again. He also is sarcastic, caustic, volatile, racially bigotted, alcohol-dependent, and, arguably, at many times, a quite delusional man (I could go on without pause). He also is a self-proclaimed, "truly great writer, storyteller, and poet". Marked throughout by unending problematic behavior, he becomes physically abusive towards his downstairs neighbors causing his landlord to evict him. He is now homeless. He constantly shouts his self-aggrandizing statements repeatedly; "I am one of the 'three' great American writers" (including himself with J.D. Salinger and also Mark Twain), "life is gathering material", and "soon I shall be known" as he speaks over and over of the masterpiece he is constantly writing.
While aspiring to ironically become a writer himself in a semi parallelled theme, Nick takes a job at Harbor Street Inn homeless shelter. During this time a relationship is beginning to build with his co-worker, Denise (Olivia Thirlby) to try and gain some real security in his life while battling all of his inner demons. Just as things are beginning to become a bit comfortable for Nick, his father steps up to the window at the shelter and orders a room as if it were a hotel he will be residing in. Totally shocked to see him, Nick has an overtly difficult time coping with the fact that his always absentee father is right in front of him and will be staying at his place of work disrupting the whole system there including Nick himself. Nicholas begins to lose all control... But will he regain it?
While working at the shelter a spotlight is shone to realize so much of what goes on with the plight of the homeless population. During the winter's coldest nights, the workers must go out and search the streets for the literally freezing and hungry people who need their help which Nick offers often. At one point, after Jonathan had been thrown out of the shelter due to his behavior once again, Nick finds him freezing in the cold night's weather. He brings him to his own apartment and hopefully now the two can look into Nick's life altering situations in-depth. The major painful issue on the table is his mother's suicide. The movie is really all about Nick's journey through his sad lifetime of just trying to survive without a present father, and now, without his mother also. He must learn to carry on in life with the inclusion of Jonathan again, whose manner is virtually impossible to understand or navigate through. It will be overwhelming for Nick, for sure.
De Niro and Dano make the complex performances of Jonathan and Nick in this dual character study of "Being Flynn" so independent of each other. The cinematography (Declan Quinn) paints a portrait of despair and hopelessness in the city and in the two men during the nighttime hours. The scenes are quite dark in their tone with hardly any light on the subjects. The eclectic soundtrack (Damon Gough) is mournful and tellingly moody including featured songs by 'Badly Drawn Boy'. Original music which I found simply amazing and positively worth the listen. I found this movie a study of complete familial dysfunction, but an account of a son trying to survive his life alone without anyone he could ever fully count on.
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Enrico
Not bad, a decent story and decent acting
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 3, 2014
