There is something very subdued from Paul Dano’s directorial debut, Wildlife that makes it a more meaningful movie than it probably is. I don’t know if there is a particular term for it other than it felt very Paul Dano-like. The man who never appears to age has delivered in a ton of movies you probably have never seen or left the theater scratching your head over (There Will Be Blood, Love & Mercy, Swiss Army Man, Little Miss Sunshine, Meek’s Cutoff, The Ballad of Jack and Rose). He plays some odd characters, so why wouldn’t his directing style be similar? Interestingly, the cast in his leads one of the most underrated and diverse actors of our generation in Jake Gyllenhaal (End of Watch, Prisoners), who is never afraid to take a risk in a role and is one of the most talented and underappreciated actresses of the same generation in Carey Mulligan (Shame, An Education) who prefers some of the safer roles.

Wildlife is not an overwhelming movie, and there is less of an audience for it than one against it. It’s not going to make for a great date night movie. It was lucky for many that this film did not last very long in theatres. I know it played at a single movie theatre in my area and was only available for two or three weeks. It was one of my most anticipated movies of 2018. I love Gyllenhaal and will watch all of his dramas. I don’t always love the weird roles he takes on, but I respect him for going outside of the norm of a leading man. Many won’t, though that seems to be fewer and fewer with each passing year.

Set in 1960 Montana, our story centers around the Brinson family. At the story’s start, father Jerry (Gyllenhaal) works as a golf pro at a local golf course. He’s a good worker and dedicated to the tasks at hand, but he is a little too jovial with some of the club members to the point that he gets fired. Now, you would expect that a fireable offense might be overly fraternizing with some of the locals who are there to golf. Or maybe it was because he was partaking in a drink with some members after working hours. Or perhaps it was because he was flirting too much with the wives. But he wasn’t doing any of that. It just seemed like he was a nice guy who might be a little more outgoing and talkative than his boss might have liked. In the 1960s, firing an employee without cause was much easier than in 2018. But perhaps Jerry just isn’t able to take on social cues as one might expect. As he calls it, he becomes too “personable.” It might be that Jerry doesn’t know when it is for him to be quiet and when he should speak up. It is a theme in this movie and not just with his work. When Jerry is offered his job back shortly after his firing, he has too much pride to go back. It’s another theme with Jerry. He’s a man who doesn’t take change very well. Though it isn’t outright stated, similar situations have happened with Jerry, resulting in his losing jobs. This landed the family in its current Montana house, a home they rent out that sits at the bottom of a small town that borders the Rocky Mountains.

The other two members of the Brinson family are the keys to our story, though. Though the movie is seen through 14-year-old protagonist Joe (Ed Oxenbould – The Visit, Paper Planes), we’ll discuss him. However, the standout in this film is his mother, Jeanette (Mulligan). This film doesn’t necessarily need an antagonist for heartache to occur, but we have one simply because of our narrator. When Jeanette gets a job at the local YMCA to support her family, Jerry begins to distance himself, perhaps intentionally…more likely unintentionally. But through Joe’s eyes and ours, we see a Dad who cannot provide for his family and a mother willing to bear that load during a period where this was far more abnormal than it is 60 years later. What can a young high school boy think when he comes home and finds his father on the couch after school? Most boys show appreciation and respect for their fathers as they become men. It varies from one situation to another, but this is a universal truth. Neither our fathers nor mothers will always be the superheroes we need them to be. They are human. They are flawed. They will let us down, and some much more frequently than others.

Despite Jeanette’s protest, Jerry has accepted a job to fight the wild firefighters out west. It will keep him away from the period for an undetermined amount of time (the fires will burn for as long as they burn if you will). Jerry is physically out of this movie pretty darn early, but his presence lingers throughout. Gyllenhaal needed just a few scenes to establish Jerry’s presence and all he’s worth, for better or worse. Mulligan’s Jeanette is terrific as the dutiful wife who has lost hope, trust, and faith in her husband as a provider and a companion. A homemaker at heart, she probably dreamed of a large family in a massive home on a spacious piece of land. Instead, she’s left with a man who soothes his many anxieties and fears with both alcohol and irrational decisions. She pleads for him to return to the job at the golf course when offered back to him. But this is something that his brain will not even consider that possibility. He felt as if he had been wronged. It’s something that Jeanette can’t deal with any longer. Her place in culture and how she is viewed by society must change with the number of unpaid bills piling up, a son who is on the verge of being a man himself, and a life that just isn’t what she envisioned and one that isn’t making her happy.

Before too long, Jeanette is gravitating towards the rich Warren (Bill Camp – 12 Years a Slave, Love & Mercy), a local man who is a good 20 years older than she is and certainly unlikely to make it through her attractiveness filter. He’s a widower with lots of money and even more time and makes promises that would typically make an audience member uncomfortable. Still, because he does seem to have a genuine kindness to him, we are surprisingly unsurprised by the actions of both characters. However, what might seem okay to Jeanette and Warren is unacceptable to Joe. He’s essentially watching his mother abandon not only her father but also him in the process. And the courting occurs right before him as if it is just expected to be okay.

This is where Oxenbould’s Joe excels. His innocence is lost early in this film. Disinterested in football and clumsy with girls, Joe has no one to talk to about his problems. His father loves him but feels like he’s failing him and sees fighting the wildfires as a way to re-establish himself as the man of the house doing a man’s job…a dangerous one…that can provide money for his family. His father disappears physically, but it’s his mother who disappears emotionally. She does things in front of Warren that no son should have to watch his father’s wife do. It’s nothing vulgar. It’s just inappropriate. But Jeanette is as lost as Jerry is, telling her son at one point, “If you have a better plan for me, tell me. Because I don’t have one.” The movie slowly changes from a strained relationship between husband and wife to a coming-of-age film in which a child from such a strained relationship should never have to bear witness. Joe’s part-time job as a photographer’s assistant seems more stable than anything his mother or father has going for them in their lives. But while he tries to capture the “American Ideal” in each photo, he wants an everyday life in which his mom and dad love each other and have time to be part of their son’s life and dreams.

Wildlife is a visionary movie for a first-time director. While this would not be celebrated as an accomplishment for Clint Eastwood, Ben Affleck, or others in Hollywood who have established themselves as excellent actors and directors, it is exquisite for a newbie. It’s almost a film I could see Woody Allen directing, yet somehow screwing up with too much witty banter, sentimentalism, or unneeded/unwanted humor. Thank goodness it wasn’t him behind the camera. We needed Paul Dano, an actor well-known for diverse roles and a dedicated professional committed to making his debut effort memorable. He did just that. While this movie will be much too slow for many people while many others will leave wondering what they just watched, my review will shed light on the latter and convince you that it needed the pace for its success.

But as great as Dano’s direction was, the four performances radiated with me. Four clearly defined characters, none of which has the sense of self of who they are, what they want, or even what is appropriate. Four characters, one protagonist, and three slight antagonists because of how they are viewed through the eyes of our protagonist, who killed it in each shared scene. I can’t think of a year where Wildlife would end on my End of Year Top Ten List, but I can think of many years (including 2018) where it is much closer to the Top 10 than in the middle of the pack. As a 42-year-old man in 2018 (early 2019), heavy dramas are my favorite genre, and this movie delivered on that level.

Plot 8/10
Character Development 9/10
Character Chemistry 9/10
Acting 9/10
Screenplay 8/10
Directing 8.5/10
Cinematography 9.5/10
Sound 9/10
Hook and Reel 8/10
Universal Relevance 8.5/10
87.5%

B

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