Sometimes, when I’m at home looking for something to watch, I’ll say an actor’s name to my voice-activated remote control. After recently rewatching and reviewing 3:10 to Yuma, I was interested in seeing what other Russell Crowe (Gladiator, Cinderella Man) movies I might be interested in rewatching or viewing for the first time. When I saw Fathers and Daughters, a movie I had never heard of before, I decided to play the trailer. Within 30 seconds, I stopped the trailer. I had successfully been teased enough to want to watch the movie without knowing more about it. I didn’t need to read any reviews, which may have turned me off. I saw it was a relationship movie that revolved around a past traumatic event that involved Crowe. That was all I needed.
As I’ve said many times in various reviews over the years, I love movies that have consistent, meaningful, and timely flashbacks that effectively bridge the past to the present. When done correctly, the film becomes cohesive, clear, and forced. But when done correctly, they come together in ways that make the movie feel like you’ve been part of the journey with at least one of these characters for their whole long ride.
Jake Davis (Crowe) is a Pulitzer-winning novelist. On one fateful night, he is involved in an automobile accident while arguing with his wife about his flirting with a woman at the social gathering they had been attending. He had not been faithful earlier in the marriage, though that incident or his perceived flirting on that night had nothing to do with the accident. Still, it was some foreshadowing for the future. The accident killed his wife. It also left Jake with brain damage that resulted in a seizure disorder.
On top of that is the wrack and guilt that would naturally consume anybody responsible for killing another human being. Jake is left to raise his five-year-old daughter Katie (Kylie Rogers, in a role that she completely nails). The violent seizures, on top of the debilitating depression he experiences, force Jake to go to a mental and physical rehabilitation hospital for “a few weeks” that turn into “a few months” that turn into seven months. During that time, Katie is raised by his sister-in-law Elizabeth (Diane Kruger –Welcome to Marwen, Unknown) and her husband William (Bruce Greenwood – Thirteen Days, The Post). Their love for Katie is pure and intentional, even if a grieving Elizabeth has yet to begin the process of forgiving Jake for the death of Carolyn. Elizabeth and William broach Jake about adopting Katie when he gets out of the hospital. This is nothing that he will even consider (note…there is a side story here that ultimately results in Elizabeth and William dropping their legal case in pursuing adoption).
Jake’s home life is a struggle. Raising a daughter on his own, with his current conditions, is overwhelming and terrifying, but Katie is his daughter and all he has. His ideal conflicts with his reality, especially in the form of the reoccurring seizures that he continues to hide from everyone. His desire to raise Katie costs him all of his savings, his sanity, and his health. However, as he evaluates his life and all that he has been through, he becomes inspired to write again and produces a novel that is about his daughter. It’s an instant success and has become a favorite of many aspiring writers. However, after his publishing success, before he can receive the deserved acclaim, he seizes in a bathroom, blows his head against a sink, and falls to the ground, killing him in the process.
As the narrative entwines back and forth between the 1980s and present day, we come to learn how a now 30-year-old Katie (Amanda Seyfried – In Time, Letters to Juliet) combats the monsters that she has unsuccessfully tried to suppress from her troubled childhood. The sweet Katie that we met is now a promiscuous, unhappy social worker who is terrified of commitment or, more importantly, another person that she cares for leaving her. Katie’s only happiness is derived from her job, where she tries to connect with Lucy ( Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild, 12 Years a Slave), a five-year-old girl who, like Katie, lost her mother tragically. Lucy refuses to speak following her mother’s death. In a movie that does many, many things correctly, the evolving relationship between Katie and Lucy is expertly developed and perfectly paced.
Katie’s repeated one-night stands and random sex in public bathroom stalls aptly show us what a mess her private life is. That is until she meets Cameron (Aaron Paul – AMC’s Breaking Bad, Eye in the Sky), a man who reveres her father’s work. The two begin a relationship, and while the connection is believable, it stems from an event that some might struggle with. It is a little too convenient that Cameron, first, comes into her life; second, that he happens to idolize her deceased father; and third, that he strikes a meaningful relationship in such a short period. This is where the movie becomes all too formulaic and almost ruins everything it had worked so hard to establish up until this point.
However, I won’t crucify this part of the movie or its hallmark-type ending because of all else that this movie does correctly. Yes, it is sentimental. Some might think overly so. I am not one of those people. As the story interweaves between past and present, it does so adroitly. The anger that Jake experienced when raising Katie manifests itself in her confusion as an adult. And nothing was rushed by director Gabriele Muccino (Seven Pounds, Paying for Keeps).
Fathers and Daughters might have been Crowe’s best film in years. He was able to stay even-keeled despite the rage ripping through every fiber of his body. It brought back visions of when he was at the top of his craft in movies like The Insider, Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, and Cinderella Man. Seyfried has been around for a while, but this was my introduction to her. Paul was as steady as ever, the most constant character in the film. It’s rare to find a single child actor who shines in such a heavy drama as this. This movie had not just one exceptional performance but two. Rogers and Wallis both have the potential to mature into successful adult actors. Heck, Wallis is already established. She is already the youngest nominee ever to receive a Best Lead Actress nomination. She was nine years old when she was nominated for 2012’s Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Fathers and Daughters got crushed at the box office, earning just over $5 million compared to a $22 million budget (most of which I’m guessing went to casting). It likewise got slammed by the critics (28% on Rotten Tomatoes), though its 58% rating with audiences was respectable.
Plot 7.5/10
Character Development 9/10
Character Chemistry 8/10
Acting 9.5/10
Screenplay 9/10
Directing 9/10
Cinematography 8.5/10
Sound 8.5/10
Hook and Reel 9.5/10
Universal Relevance 9/10
87.5%
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