A radio journalist embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew. Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix) and his young nephew, Jesse (Woody Norman) forge a tenuous but transformational relationship when they are unexpectedly thrown together in this delicate and deeply moving story about the connections between adults and children, the past and the future. It turns out that Johnny's sister, Viv (Gaby Hoffman) has to go take care of her ex-husband, Paul (Scoot McNairy) who is going through a mental breakdown. So as Johnny is traveling--because of his job, Viv coaches him on how to be an effective parent via phone since Johnny has never been a parent.
Others to round out the cast are Molly Webster as Roxanne, Jaboukie Young-White as Fern, Deborah Strang as Carol, Sunni Patterson as Sunni, Jenny Eliscu as waitress, Mary Passeri as behavioral center nurse, Brandon Rush as ER nurse and Brey'on Shaw as Brey'on.
This was stunningly directed with such detail by Mike Mills ("Thumbsucker" '05, "Does Your Soul Have a Cold?" (documentary) '07, "Beginners" '10, "20th Century Women" '16) plus shorts and videos. Watching this was almost like watching people simply live there lives somewhat like a documentary setup. Mills is definitely an actor's director in that he knows how to extract just the right emotion from his actors so one feels like they're viewing real people as opposed to actors. The detail is painstaking. This being an indie film, he certainly didn't go too much out of his comfort zone since most of his experience is in the indie arena, but given that, we are the victors for it. It was also equally well crafted by writer Mills ("Thumbsucker" '05, "Beginners" '10, "20th Century Women" '16) plus shorts. The premise of this film wasn't necessarily original (an estranged 'parent' figure attempting to reunite with his nephew after being thrown together), however, the way this was written with so many nuances of believability between this uncle and his nephew was so amazing that even though the idea of the film wasn't original, the acting, directing and the style of the writing allowed the audience to forgive all else. Also effective was the fact it was shot in black and white by Robbie Ryan ("How to Cheat in the Living Certificate" '97, "Large" '01, "This is Not a Love Song" '02, "Isolation" '05, "Red Road" '06, "Brick Lane" '07, "Patagonia" '10, "Wuthering Heights" '11, "Philomena" '13, "I Am Not a Serial Killer" .16, "The Favourite" '18, "The Roads Not Taken" '20). The crispness of the photography was amazing while that process absolutely solidified the feel in which Mills was attempting to convey. Other than a couple of very small places in the story, this was spot on.
If you like indie films that are well directed, acted and written, this will be the film for you. The acting by Phoenix was amazing and could receive an Oscar nod. But even the supporting cast was very effective, i.e Hoffman as the sister, Viv and even the young nephew, Jessie played by Norman. They were incredible in their respective roles. While this is not a film that is for the large audience appeal, it will be one that will leave you thinking by the time the credits end.
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: R 110mins.
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