​FILMS

fathers and daughters

For mothers, sons, fathers and daughters who don't mind their emotions being manipulated.

2015 review number 190:

Fathers and Daughters: (Drama): 63 out of 100: A manipulative tearjerker is an apt description for this film but the soap opera qualities somehow get you hooked into the story which goes to show that if the filmmakers' intention was to make the audience feel sorry for the characters then they have achieved their aim. However, you do feel a bit guilty in falling into the trap of sympathising with the characters. Just one look at the movie poster will tell you how many tears are shed during the course of the story!

 

Jake Davis (Russell Crowe) is a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist who struggles with his demons when his wife (Janet McTeer) is killed in the car which he is driving. He feels guilty as he was in a heated argument with her at the time of the accident. His little daughter, Katie (Kylie Rogers) is placed in the care of his wife's sister, Elizabeth (Diane Kruger) and her husband, William (Bruce Greenwood) while he enters a mental home to purge his seizures brought upon by the crash. Upon his release from the facility, he discovers that they wish to adopt his daughter. In a parallel story, the adult Katie (Amanda Seyfried) is on a string of one night stands until she meets Cameron (Aaron Paul). Katie is a social worker who has grown attached to her patient (Quvenzhané Wallis) and feels like the parent to her the way that her father was when she was young.

 

The constant flashing between Katie's childhood and present day results in a disjointed storyline. Just when you have settled into one stage of her life, we are transported either back or forward to another period. It makes for frustrating viewing at times. The themes are interesting but the storywriters have tried to cover too much ground. There are some cardboard villains in Elizabeth and William, asking you to question their motives and whether they are doing the right thing by Katie when they seek to adopt her.

 

The acting is commendable although Crowe's disintegration into mental incapacity seems a bit unnatural, especially when he enters the seizure territory. The other adult performers do their best with the soap opera material. Credit must go to Kylie Rogers for a brilliant performance as Crowe's daughter for she will definitely tug at your heartstrings.

 

Fathers and Daughters will not win over too many critics due to its plodding, manipulative story but for those who are attracted to teary, dramatic performances, there is enough in the story to garner your attention. It doesn't have to be seen on the big screen due to its 'television feel'. The television is where it will be seen in Australia as it is more than likely that it will be released direct to DVD there.

 

Starring Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Aaron Paul, Diane Kruger, Bruce Greenwood and Jane Fonda

(116 minutes)

Parental advice: Coarse language, sex scenes, sexual references and adult themes

Additional scene during or after credits: No

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMC7TzusghU (Movie trailer)

 

(Reviewed on Wednesday 23rd December, 2015)

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