Being Flynn (2012)

Im not going to get into the plot because it takes a while to explain, and you can already find it in previous reviews done on this film. Anyway, "Being Flynn" is an incredible film. There was honestly not a single thing about this movie that I didn't like. The only reason that I gave it 9 out of 10 stars instead of a 10 is because I think that it may seem a little slow to certain viewers. I am not one of those viewers. First off, this is the best acting I have seen from Robert De Niro in a very long time. This film goes up there with his best: "Taxi Driver", "Goodfellas", "Heat", etc. The same goes for Paul Dano. His acting in "Being Flynn" is on par, if not better, than in "There Will Be Blood". I will warn those who are very sensitive: you will cry at some point during this film. It is incredibly sad to see the deterioration of Robert De Niro's character. You truly feel for his son (Paul Dano) and what he is going through with this complete nut-case of a father. Paul Dano's character is treated very similarly in "Being Flynn" by Robert De Niro as he is in "There Will Be Blood" by Daniel Day Lewis. I guess he is just an actor we are meant to feel bad for. Anyway, I am so glad to see Robert De Niro doing good films again (The last one I saw him in was "Little Fockers" :P). It is a shame that most people will not see this movie and because it is an early 2012 release and is a limited release, this will get absolutely NO recognition at the Academy Awards.... Robert De Niro and Paul Dano truly both deserve best actor nominations and the movie deserves a best picture nomination. I know it is pretty early in the year to be saying this, but this film is going to be damn hard to beat. Go see "Being Flynn", you wont regret it!

Fmovies: If you're looking for a light drama or comedy, don't choose Being Flynn. But if you want to see the masterful acting of Robert DeNiro and Paul Dano, and you're up for serious subject matter, this is an outstanding film. The script does not sugar-coat any aspects of addiction or homelessness. It tells it like it is. The key characters are multi-dimensional, and I found myself rooting for them at times and wanting to kick their butts at other times. Besides the obvious subject matter of addiction and homelessness, the film also address the challenges we all have dealing with whether we are or are not our parents -- or at least looking at parts of ourselves we don't like that we also don't like in our parents. And the feelings of guilt and shame experience by Nick over the death of his mother are palpable.

The only thing I found disconcerting was that fact that it was supposed to be set in Boston and, with the exception of one recognizable Boston location, it was so obviously filmed in New York.

Being Flynn (2012)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Touching and mostly depressing film about a young man (Paul Dano) trying to make his way into life but things change when he sees his father (Robert DeNiro) staying at the homeless shelter he's working in. The father and son haven't seen each other in nearly twenty-years but soon the son starts to realize that this might have been a good thing. I really wasn't sure what to expect going into BEING FLYNN but I came out extremely impressed and I honestly can't remember the last time I watched a current movie and felt more for the characters involved. Not only do we have the father and son relationship but there's also the flashbacks with the mother (Julianne Moore), the son's relationship with a co-worker (Olivia Thirlby) and other small characters that we meet. The amazing thing is that the screenplay makes you feel for each of them with all their problems. I think one of the greatest assets is of course the performances with DeNiro leading the way. It seems over the past decade "film buffs" have complained about the type of roles that the actor has been taken. Of course, whenever he does turn in quality work like here or in EVERYBODY'S FINE, no one goes and sees the film, which is a real shame as both offer the actor at the top of his game. The character he plays here is at times funny, at times hateful and there are times where you don't want to see him again. The character is a racist, sexist and there's no question that he's a drunk, a deadbeat father and a crazy person. The way DeNiro plays all of this is pure perfection and shows that the actor still has that magic. The way DeNiro not only delivers the lines but also watch the small things he does with the look of the character, the way he moves and even the expressions he gives. Dano stands right up there with him and the two characters are so different that they're both able to stand strong against each other. I was also impressed with Moore, although she doesn't appear in too many scenes. Thirlby is also lovely in her part of the girlfriend and I thought she nearly stole every scene in which she appeared. The appeal of BEING FLYNN is going to be small, I mean, after all this is a depressing, raw and open look at relationships and bad ones at that. The film isn't always easy to watch but the characters are so full and you want to love them so much that it's easy to be drawn into the story. BEING FLYNN is certainly a special little gem and best of all is that it features DeNiro at the top of his game.

Being Flynn fmovies. Based on the memoirs of poet Nick Flynn entitled Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, Being Flynn works thanks to the performances put in by Robert De Niro and Paul Dano, playing the father and son Jonathan and Nick Flynn, estranged for many years no thanks to Jonathan's life of a con artist catching up with him, communicating with his son through letters for the most parts of his life, never meeting up. Growing up alone with his mom (Julianne Moore), one might think this is yet another dysfunctional family story, but Nick has a lot more to tell, baring his soul to recount the painful absence and hard fought reaching out to the only close relative he's got, and this journey is one that reminds us on blood being thicker than water, or alcohol for that matter here.

Under the direction of Paul Weisz, whose filmography included vulgar flicks like American Pie and The Little Fockers, which of course also starred De Niro, it was great that this film gets more closely aligned with his other narratively powerful films like About a Boy and In Good Company. While the book by Nick Flynn had a whole host of styles adopted in its various chapters, Weisz tried to capture the same essence in adopting different points of views in this film, as well as to lightly touch it with some comedy. But what it had set its sights on, is to bring out the pain of having to not grow up with a dad present and to be brought up by a single mom, and the struggles one has to experience as an aimless drifter until something clicked, and one puts the foot down to embark on a determined change of lifestyle.

There were elements that I enjoyed in this film, one of which is the parallels drawn between the father and son's lives, both seemingly getting from bad to worse with nary a roof over their heads, and the dependence on substance abuse as a vice, be it the bottle or drugs, in the hope that these will help alleviate the severe discomfort brought on by not being able to have ambitions developed and met. Like father, like son, each of them dreams of making it big one day as a successful writer, but like the chip off the old block, this potential rarely got realized when their lives continue to be at the doldrums.

It provides an inspiration to those of us who deem it impossible to pursue our dreams for a variety of reasons, and while it delivers that awkward feeling of having to reconnect with someone related to by blood, especially if that's a mom or a dad, it pushes anyone caught in similar dilemmas into the same direction of reconciliation, for bygones to be bygones, and that there's nothing more powerful than having to rediscover relations that once was, or even never had begun. Weisz adopted a rather fractured narrative, that tells of the present day with Nick and Jonathan's crossing of paths when the latter gets kicked out of his apartment, and having to live on and off in the homeless shelter his son volunteers in, and interspersed that with Nick's memories of the days being brought up by mom through a series of flashbacks, seen through a relatively innocent prism of a young boy growing up in harsh times.

Subplots came and went without much fanfare, such as Nick's on-off romantic relationship with Denise (Olivia Thirlby), a co-worker at the shelter, and we don't really get to know the other co-workers with any depth other than they each come with issues but are volunteering time at the shelter. But there are moments that sneak in, to make you pause and take stock about whether similar situations

(Credit IMDb) Working in a Boston homeless shelter, Nick Flynn re- encounters his father, a con man and self-proclaimed poet. Sensing trouble in his own life, Nick wrestles with the notion of reaching out yet again to his dad.

I saw this one a while ago. I rented it due to DeNiro's presence, and didn't expect that much. I was surprisingly engaged throughout, and it was quite a moving film. I was especially moved by the somewhat chaotic and sad relationship between Dano & his mom (Julianne Moore) she was such a tragic character. I know the key relationship is the estranged relationship between Nick & Jonathan (Dano & DeNiro) but I felt the relationship between Dano & Moore was just as effective. Paul Dano makes for a great lost soul, and I was easily able to empathize with him. Robert DeNiro gives one of his best performances in recent memory as an alcoholic. He's not very sympathetic, but his performance is a powerful one. This movie is very good. It has fantastic performances, and a great story. See it

7.5/10

Few films concerning father/son relationships have been able to produce the emotional impact of this masterfully written and directed and acted BEING FLYNN. Paul Weitz directs and adapted the 2004 memoir by Nick Flynn "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City: A Memoir" and brought together a superlative cast that just may be Robert De Niro's finest hour. Nick Flynn deserves the credit for this articulate tale of his own life: he was born and grew up in Scituate, Massachusetts, south of Boston. His parents divorced when he was young and his mother committed suicide when he was 22. He drifted through several jobs before starting work at a homeless shelter in Boston, where at age twenty-seven, he met his estranged, homeless father for the first time. That is the core of the film.

The nature of the film works very well: we simultaneously meet Jonathan Flynn (Robert DeNiro), a man who believes he is 'America's greatest writer along side Mark Twain and JD Salinger, who lives life day to day in a drunken stupor, driving taxis, acting out con games etc until he becomes homeless, and after seeking shelter from old friends he has neglected, he ends up in a homeless shelter. We also meet his estranged son Nick Flynn (Paul Dano, in a breakout performance) who is striving to discover who he is, perceiving himself as a writer but unsuccessful with relationships: Nick's mother Jody (Julianne Moore) we see only in flashbacks because she committed suicide, and his only communication with his absent father has been through letters. Also homeless, Nick moves with with two characters (Eddie Rouse and Steve Cirbus) who manage to help Nick find a job in a homeless shelter. As Nick adjusts to working at the shelter he comes into connect with a potential girlfriend Denise (Olivia Thirlby) and begins to feel as though his life has some degree of meaning. The jolt comes when Jonathan seeks shelter in the homeless shelter where Nick works and it is this coming together of two bruised and pained people who happen to be father and son that sets in motion the resolution of the story. Both men are pitiful but both have redeeming characteristics and it is this struggling coming together that makes the film breathe. In addition to the brilliant acting of the main characters, there are also exceptionally memorable roles by Lili Taylor, Victor Rasuk, Thomas Middleditch, Wes Studi, Chris Chalk and others.

Not only is the film pitch perfect in nearly every detail, but it also gives the viewer the opportunity to consider the plight of the homeless around us. How many tragic stories like this are untold or never will be known? When a film can produce that degree of involvement with the audience it goes beyond simply being a film and becomes art - art makes us consider, think, and change.

Grady Harp