I join NewsTalk 1010 host Jim Richards on the coast-to-coast-to-coast late night “NewsTalk Tonight” to play the game “Did Richard Crouse Like This?” This week we talk about the family drama “The Son,” the technological thriller “Missing” and Bill Nighy in the heartbreaking “Living.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I appear on “CTV News at 11:30” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the best movies and television to watch this weekend. This week I have a look at the family drama “The Son,” the technological thriller “Missing” and Bill Nighy in the heartbreaking “Living.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 19:07)
I joined CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres. Today we talk about the family drama “The Son,” the technological thriller “Missing” and Bill Nighy in the heartbreaking “Living.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Marcia MacMillan to talk about the family drama “The Son,” the technological thriller “Missing” and Bill Nighy in the heartbreaking “Living.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to drink a glass of water! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about Bill Nighy in the heartbreaking “Living,” the family drama “The Son” and the technological thriller “Missing.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in with CKTB morning show host Tim Denis to have a look at Bill Nighy in the heartbreaking “Living,” the family drama “The Son” and the technological thriller “Missing.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres including Bill Nighy in the heartbreaking “Living,” the family drama “The Son” and the technological thriller “Missing.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join 1290 CJBK in London and hosts Ken and Loreena to talk the new movies coming to theatres including Bill Nighy in the heartbreaking “Living,” the family drama “The Son” and the technological thriller “Missing.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
“The Son,” director Florian Zeller’s follow-up to the Oscar winning “The Father,” is the story of a fractured family and a son struggling with mental illness.
The drama, adapted for the screen by Christopher Hampton from Zeller’s stage play, involves Peter (Hugh Jackman), a high-flying New York City lawyer with political aspirations. He is the father of 17-year-old Nicholas (Zen McGrath) and ex-husband of Kate (Laura Dern), but has rebooted his life, marrying Beth (Vanessa Kirby), a much younger woman who is the mother to their baby, Theo. Peter has a new baby and a new life that doesn’t leave much room for his older son.
When Nicolas begins skipping school, acting out and cutting himself as a way to channel his pain, Kate asks if Peter can step up and give the boy some guidance and a place to stay. “He needs you Peter,” she says. “You can’t abandon him.”
Life is weighing Nicholas down. “I can’t deal with any of it,” he says. “I want something to change, but I don’t know what.”
With Nicolas in the spare room, Peter attempts to “fix” him, searching for an explanation for his son’s behavior, trying to be a better father to the teen than his own father, played by Anthony Hopkins, was to him. An unapologetically bad father, Hopkins snarls, “Your daddy wasn’t good to you or your mama. Who cares? Get over it.”
“The Son” is the story of intergenerational trauma, of the sins of a father (Hopkins is despicable in a fiery cameo) being visited upon his son and grandson, and a child’s cry for help.
Compassion abounds in “The Son,” and Jackman astounds wit work that is tinged with vulnerability, tragedy and guilt, but the script offers few surprises. Zeller telegraphs the film’s biggest moments, as if he doesn’t trust the audience to follow along. Those early revelations mute the story’s emotional power, despite the fine, compassionate performances.
There are compelling moments in “The Son.” A showdown between Peter and Nicholas packs emotional heft, and Jackman’s struggle to understand his son’s acute depression is tempered with equal parts empathy and frustration.
Jackman delivers a remarkable and authentic portrait of a desperate father in a well-intentioned film, that, by and large, feels manipulative by comparison.
