If you've been following Robert Duvall's career since his debut as Boo Radley in, "To Kill a Mockingbird," you could take it for granted that he has earned staying in the business this long. If you're of the generation that only knows Robert Downey, Jr. as "Iron Man," here's where you get to see that he's no one trick pony. His smarmy attitude basically gets transplanted here, except with a backstory. It baffles me how some reviewers felt misled by the trailers into thinking this was a pure comedy whereas in the trailer I saw, it was more of a dramedy. It was obvious that both father and son had some deep history. Since I also straddle two generations, I could identify with both parties in a way I couldn't have when I was a childless 20something.
This is another example of a movie where it takes two strong actors to pull off these two strong characters. They both chew the scenery like the dramatic courtroom scene between Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men" and the scene between Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino in, "Heat." This was one of those movies where the journey was more important than the destination because you kind of know where it's going.
However, I do agree with other reviewers that some characters and side stories were unnecessary. That it was so maudlin that it bordered on emotionally manipulative. That it was overly long. However, I object to it's length for more than mere editing. Having watched a ton of European movies, they often have, "Is that it?" endings when the credits begin to roll. It forces your mind to create your own ending based on the information you've been presented with before in the movie. The Silence was a great example. The beauty of those kinds of endings is no two people come up with the same ending, as you can clearly see on heated threads on IMDb. It's like European movies are brave enough to not fill in the blanks, not put all the missing puzzle pieces together, not attempt to wrap things up in a pretty little bow, because that's how life is. In this movie, as I felt with, "Flight," that there were about several ending images where the film could have left a cinematic and emotional impact much more than the path it chose to take. That's what keeps me from rating it a perfect 10. However, it does not take away the enjoyment of the movie.
This is another example of a movie where it takes two strong actors to pull off these two strong characters. They both chew the scenery like the dramatic courtroom scene between Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men" and the scene between Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino in, "Heat." This was one of those movies where the journey was more important than the destination because you kind of know where it's going.
However, I do agree with other reviewers that some characters and side stories were unnecessary. That it was so maudlin that it bordered on emotionally manipulative. That it was overly long. However, I object to it's length for more than mere editing. Having watched a ton of European movies, they often have, "Is that it?" endings when the credits begin to roll. It forces your mind to create your own ending based on the information you've been presented with before in the movie. The Silence was a great example. The beauty of those kinds of endings is no two people come up with the same ending, as you can clearly see on heated threads on IMDb. It's like European movies are brave enough to not fill in the blanks, not put all the missing puzzle pieces together, not attempt to wrap things up in a pretty little bow, because that's how life is. In this movie, as I felt with, "Flight," that there were about several ending images where the film could have left a cinematic and emotional impact much more than the path it chose to take. That's what keeps me from rating it a perfect 10. However, it does not take away the enjoyment of the movie.