Finally, an adult story about family conflicts and business. Sounds dull, doesn't it. But this is dull in the way "All My Sons" was dull, which is to say not so dull at all if you don't mind the absence of gore.
Dennis Quaid is a farmer and popular seed salesman in Iowa's corn country. He has a lovely, understanding wife (Dickens), a rebellious son (Efron)given to stock car racing, and an errant son given to climbing high mountains somewhere in South America.
The kids evidently don't want any part of farming, which is a constant source of sadness for Quaid. Everything for the family, you know, and his family has been tilling the same soil for four generations.
Efron seems to be a winner on the stock car circuit and Quaid applauds him but one day, on the verge of greater success, Efron takes his foot off the pedal and rolls slowly along the track. He loses his franchise or whatever it is you lose when your sponsor withdraws support.
And here the story is derailed. Efron is a handsome kid, I guess, because he looks a bit like Rob Lowe who is, I'm told, handsome. That he can't act is something of a hindrance but he doesn't really have that many lines. His main job is to stare intensely and he carries it off with aplomb.
But after losing that important race, when Quaid tries to cheer Efron up -- "You ran a great race, son" -- Efron glowers and explains, "I was only in those cars to get away from you." I think we can all understand that. In fact, we could have understood it without its having been said, but let it pass. What goes wrong is that Efron switches from abjuring his father and everything his father stands for, to being even more zealous about the farm and its prospering than Quaid himself ever was. Efron kills the son of a rival seed peddler.
Quaid is complicit. Instead of calling the police, he and Efron get rid of the body. A good scene follows the symbolic funeral for the boy who has disappeared, in which a guilt-ridden Quaid offers part of his farm to the dead boy's father. Condolence is one thing, but "this is business" replies Clancy Brown, doing a good job as Quaid's rival. That aspect of the tale had potential. There are echoes of "Crime and Punishment" and "The Informer." But it's not followed up.
Others have commented that Quaid gives the best performance of his career but I've always thought he brings something original to almost all the roles he's given. Dickens is quietly effective too. So is Maika Monroe, who sounds like a valley girl and looks like Chloe Sevigny. Efron should find a rewarding career in some TV series.
The direction is unusual in that there is a near absence of instantaneous cutting, of electronic percussion, and of reveling in violence. Bahrani doesn't seem to like drawn-out transitions between scenes. No sooner does a character say, "Why don't we go to --", than, BANG, they're speeding to the goal along Iowa's desperately lonely cornscape.
It's a decent movie, overall, made for adults.
Dennis Quaid is a farmer and popular seed salesman in Iowa's corn country. He has a lovely, understanding wife (Dickens), a rebellious son (Efron)given to stock car racing, and an errant son given to climbing high mountains somewhere in South America.
The kids evidently don't want any part of farming, which is a constant source of sadness for Quaid. Everything for the family, you know, and his family has been tilling the same soil for four generations.
Efron seems to be a winner on the stock car circuit and Quaid applauds him but one day, on the verge of greater success, Efron takes his foot off the pedal and rolls slowly along the track. He loses his franchise or whatever it is you lose when your sponsor withdraws support.
And here the story is derailed. Efron is a handsome kid, I guess, because he looks a bit like Rob Lowe who is, I'm told, handsome. That he can't act is something of a hindrance but he doesn't really have that many lines. His main job is to stare intensely and he carries it off with aplomb.
But after losing that important race, when Quaid tries to cheer Efron up -- "You ran a great race, son" -- Efron glowers and explains, "I was only in those cars to get away from you." I think we can all understand that. In fact, we could have understood it without its having been said, but let it pass. What goes wrong is that Efron switches from abjuring his father and everything his father stands for, to being even more zealous about the farm and its prospering than Quaid himself ever was. Efron kills the son of a rival seed peddler.
Quaid is complicit. Instead of calling the police, he and Efron get rid of the body. A good scene follows the symbolic funeral for the boy who has disappeared, in which a guilt-ridden Quaid offers part of his farm to the dead boy's father. Condolence is one thing, but "this is business" replies Clancy Brown, doing a good job as Quaid's rival. That aspect of the tale had potential. There are echoes of "Crime and Punishment" and "The Informer." But it's not followed up.
Others have commented that Quaid gives the best performance of his career but I've always thought he brings something original to almost all the roles he's given. Dickens is quietly effective too. So is Maika Monroe, who sounds like a valley girl and looks like Chloe Sevigny. Efron should find a rewarding career in some TV series.
The direction is unusual in that there is a near absence of instantaneous cutting, of electronic percussion, and of reveling in violence. Bahrani doesn't seem to like drawn-out transitions between scenes. No sooner does a character say, "Why don't we go to --", than, BANG, they're speeding to the goal along Iowa's desperately lonely cornscape.
It's a decent movie, overall, made for adults.