John lives with his husband Eric and their daughter Monica in California, way away from the traditional countryside life he left behind many years ago. John’s father Willis, who’s stubborn and old fashioned lives alone on a farm where John grew up. Willis is showing the first signs of dementia, so he can’t take care of the property all on his own. John decides to bring him to California where with the help of his sister Sarah, they will help him find a house nearby where he can move. Even though they want to help him, they get a cold shower because Willis is firm and doesn’t want to change or adapt one bit. Tensions between Willis and other family members are present, his harshness and sarcasm which are sometimes spiced up with humorous inputs come more into play because of his memory loss which causes old wounds and pain to open and the unsolved problems between father and son come crashing through.
I absolutely loved this story! At the same time this was a heartwarming and also a heartbreaking movie. For a directorial debut, this is really great from Viggo Mortensen. The movie is gorgeous to look at. All the acting is really strong in the movie. Even the kid actors were great. Now, on to my issues. The dialogue could have been better, the story-telling could also have been done better. The non-linear story-telling in this movie can be a little messy and confusing at times, which leads into another problem I had with the movie, the pacing. It really slowed the movie down for me. The idea is really great, but the way they chose to tell this story and the uninteresting dialogue at times is what bother me. But, for a first time actually writing a movie, this turned out great. If he chooses to direct a movie again, I’m on board. I can’t wait what else he can do. Maybe the writing will improve as well. 7/10*
Director: Viggo Mortensen
Written by: Viggo Mortensen
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Lance Henriksen, Laura Linney, Terry Chen, Gabby Velis, Sverrir Gudnason
Runtime: 108 minutes
