"The Son" -- Movie Review

 

This week at Film At Lincoln Center, I attended an advance screening of “The Son”, a new drama by writer/director Florian Zeller; it features Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern and Anthony Hopkins. 

Synopsis

When a divorced father learns of his teenage son’s emotional problems, can he save him before the boy does something drastic?

Story

Peter (Jackman) is a successful, ambitious businessman in New York City – he’s even fielding an offer from a United States Senator who wants to hire him for his upcoming presidential campaign.  After his divorce from Kate (Dern), he’s remarried to Beth (Vanessa Kirby) and started a second family with their newborn son Theo.  His plans get interrupted when Kate informs him that their 17 year old son Nicholas (Zen McGrath) has been having some problems; with Nicholas skipping school and displaying a variety of behavioral issues, Kate implores Peter to intervene.  When he meets with his son, Nicholas requests he move in with Peter and Beth – despite Beth's concerns, Peter relents. 

Nicholas takes a spare room at Peter and Beth's apartment; Beth maintains a watchful eye on him due to his unusual demeanor.  Peter registers him in a new school so he can have a fresh start.  Soon after, however, he discovers that Nicholas is a “cutter” – he makes cuts in his arm occasionally, causing bleeding and leaving scars.  When confronted about this, Nicholas admits to his father that he’s been having difficulty dealing with his parents’ divorce, especially after witnessing his mother's reaction; he feels that both he and his mother have been abandoned, discarded and completely forgotten. 

Eventually, Peter finds out that Nicholas has been hiding the truth from him – he hasn’t been attending classes at his new school and he’s continuing to cut himself with increasing frequency.  One of his cuttings results in a failed suicide attempt, which causes him to be hospitalized; once his physical health is stabilized, Nicholas remains in the psychiatric ward for observation.  The psychiatrist tries to convince Peter and Kate to let Nicholas remain there because of his severe depression and likelihood of another suicide attempt.  Despite the recommendation, they decide to sign out Nicholas and take him home, believing that if they shower him with enough love and attention, he will improve.  But will this plan truly work?

Review

With such a great cast, you would think that “The Son” would be a terrific motion picture – unfortunately, the performances can’t elevate its quality.  It couldn't be saved even if Hugh Jackman transformed into Wolverine at the end.  There is just too much of a melodrama feel to garner much interest.  “The Son” is basically a made-for-TV flick that only got greenlit as a feature because of the cast attached to the project – not to mention the director’s previous success with “The Father”.  After Zeller made “The Father”, he followed-up with “The Son”.  Will his next be “The Holy Spirit”?  That would make quite the trinity.           

Much of the script is rather curious, making you wonder what the characters are doing and why they are making the choices they have made (or haven’t made, as the case may be).  While the intent behind the film seems to be heartfelt, it’s difficult to muster much compassion for these characters.  Even the distressed son can be a bit irritating with his passive aggressive behavior.  One thing to note is that while Anthony Hopkins is in “The Son”, he only has the one scene, which is quite good; so if you’re considering seeing this for another stellar Hopkins portrayal, you may want to reconsider. 

There was an interview with the star of “The Son”, Hugh Jackman, after the screening.  Jackman said that Zeller’s approach to shooting the film was to not have any rehearsals, nor did he allow the cast to watch the monitors after a take.  As a result, Jackman felt that he had to put complete trust in his director.  The final emotionally intense scene of the movie was shot only three days after Jackman’s own father had passed away; he said it took a total of 17 takes and the entire time, he felt his father’s presence on the set.  The play on which the motion picture is based was set in France, but Zeller put the adaptation in New York City because he believes that New York is the crossroads of the world and that the story could be set anywhere because it’s so universal.