ReelBob: ‘Wildlife’ ★★★
By Bob Bloom
Actor Paul Dano makes his directorial debut with this delicate and touching adaptation of Richard Ford’s novel, “Wildlife,” which centers on 14-year-old Joe (newcomer Ed Oxenbould), as he helplessly watches the disintegration of his family.
The movie, told mostly from Joe’s perspective, looks at his mother, Jeanette (Carey Mulligan) and father, Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal), two people on different trajectories.
Jerry is a golf pro in a small Montana town in the early 1960s, eking out a living, while Jeanette, who goes by Jean, is a stay-at-home mom, who constantly seems restless and dissatisfied.
When Jerry loses his job, supposedly for overstepping his bounds, Jean strokes and bolsters his ego, reassuring him that another job is on the horizon.
Jerry, a proud man, is offered his position back, but his ego won’t let him return.
Instead, after a time of futile job searching, he leaves his family to join others who are fighting wildfires in the state’s forest areas.
This does not sit well with Jean, who feels as if Jerry is abandoning her.
After Jerry leaves, Jean takes a job as a swimming instructor at the local YMCA.
Joe, though, notices changes in his mother. She seems more agitated and upset after Jerry’s departure.
Soon, Jean is spending time with Warren Miller (Bill Camp), a local car dealer.
From the outset, Dano’s direction is nicely understated. Joe realizes something is wrong between his parents, but he does not know what it is or why. He simply feels the tension in the household.
Joe also does not know how to help his mother. He continually reminds her that Jerry will return, but Jean refuses to accept that fact. She feels deserted and alone, and no words of consolation from Joe can soothe her resentment.
The film, adapted by Dano and Zoe Kazan, is more a mood piece than plot-driven feature.
It is a melancholy look at a family in crisis, who do not have the emotional or expressive skills to bridge the gaps that separate them.
And, like Joe, we are silent witnesses, powerless to intervene.
The three leads give superb and poignant performances. You can feel their pain and frustration.
Mulligan, especially, is fine. Her Jean is fragile and needy. She has the capacity to fend for herself but not the emotional strength to do so.
Gyllenhaal’s Jerry is a father and husband who wants to get ahead for his family but would rather take short cuts to achieve those goals.
He is a man who must keep up a façade of strength, afraid to allow circumstances to diminish his role as provider for his wife and son.
Oxenbould is wonderfully sensitive as a teenager unable to stop or alter events he perceives as life changing to him and his parents.
“Wildlife” is quiet and sad. Its main drawback is that it is not as dramatically powerful as it can or should be. It’s as if Dano was keeping something in reserve, but never discovered the right moment to release it.
Still, “Wildlife” is a sympathetic portrait of a family in flux, stumbling to the realization that, though they are bonded, they may be healthier and happier apart.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My reviews appear at ReelBob (reelbob.com) and Rottentomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com). I also review Blu-rays and DVDs. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com or on Twitter @ReelBobBloom. Links to my reviews can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.
WILDLIFE
3 stars out of 4
(PG-13), mature themes, sexual situations, language, smoking