Wildlife (2018)

It's a sad story, and so slow. Did not enjoy it in the slightest

Fmovies: 'Wildlife (2018)' is well made in every way, with its fantastic performances combining with its restrained but assured direction and solid but somewhat unremarkable script to paint a realistic portrait of a failing family seen through the slightly immature yet more world-weary than he's given credit for young lead. The piece isn't necessarily all that powerful, though, and is, sadly, pretty unmemorable, to boot. It's a bit of a strange case because I was invested in the story, characters and overall world right from the off, always involved in its twists and turns and feeling as though I was participating in its narrative (in the sense that I wasn't spoon-fed everything), but I literally forgot I had even seen the feature not two hours after getting home from the cinema, only remembering after being reminded what it was I'd just watched, which doesn't bode well for its overall lasting impact. It also marks it, perhaps, as an experience more adept at setting up a confident new directorial talent than anything else, one rife with opportunity for its actors to impressively stretch their 'acting muscles' and for its plot to portray a more nuanced view of its core players than we usually see in typical 'Hollywood' fare. Of course, your mileage will vary depending on how much it connects with you, and I'd easily reccomended giving it a watch at least once. 6/10

I thoroughly responded to this film and felt like I'd been pulled through a knothole when it was over. Everything seemed so authentic, the settings, the furniture, the streets. All the actors were perfect....my only complaint was that Mulligan was very hard to hear....I felt that I missed about 60% of her dialog, but it didn't seem to matter. You knew what she was going through anyhow.

Wildlife fmovies. I saw this film last night as part of the Denver Film Festival special presentations section. "Fine performances" cannot save this slow-moving, depressing drama. If you want to spend nearly two hours watching the disintegration of a marriage in a miserable Montana town set amidst the bland 1960's setting of baseball games on the radio and mostly empty streets of the western town where they filmed this drivel, then have at it. Ed Oxenbould as the son gives an interesting performance.

This happened to be one of my most hyped films of the year. I am a big fan of Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan so I knew I had to check this out as soon as earthly possible. Had the pleasure of attending a screening of this film at the IFC Center with directer Paul Dano and co-wwriter Zoe Kazan present for a Q & A. The film is beautiful to look at with rich cinematography, has a number of strong performances with a fantastic one from Carey Mulligan, and shows that Dano and Kazan have the talent to get behind the camera and bring a quality piece of work.

The film shows a family in 1960's Montana and how life changing events cause their family to fall apart. After the father is fired, he decides to take a job putting out wildfires which causes him to leave the home for an extended period of time. During this time his wife struggles trying to hold her family together by doing whats best for them but she also questions if she even loves her husband. All this while, their teenage son has to watch his parents drift apart silently. The film stars Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ed Oxenbould, and Bill Camp.

As mentioned earlier the cinematography and especially the scenery in this film are gorgeous. Lush, rich and a perfect description for a simpler quieter time in 60's Montana. The film gets quite uncomfortable as you start wondering about the state of mind Jeanette Brinson (Mulligan) and what she gets herself into. You are basically like the teenage son Joe (Oxenbould). You see things from his lenses, feel exactly what he is feeling, and can't look away much like him. Its a startling tale but one that depicts a perfect looking family where it is anything but.

Carey Mulligan is one of the best actresses out there today, that's not even a debate. She's had so many great performances that I don't even know which is her best. This is definitely up there though. It's such an introspective look into the lives of a family where things are just beyond repair. I'm very impressed by Dano and Kazan. Both are talented on the camera but wow they were able to engineer something so wonderful behind the camera. I'm definitely intrigued to see if the duo decide to continue with film-making an writing.

8/10

As an actor, Paul Dano, with his long-faced gaze of inquiring gloom, has always radiated a sense of unease. That's far from the only thing he communicates (he was spectacular as Brian Wilson in "Love & Mercy," a performance that beautifully merged Wilson's disturbance and his joy). But a kind of hushed foreboding remains the vintage Dano mood, and "Wildlife," his directorial debut, is suffused with it.