The Father ⭐️½

The Father – R – 1 hr 37 min
NO SPOILERS Movie Review
Watched in theater Thursday March 11, 2021
AMC Lakewood Mall 12 – Lakewood, Washington
12th new movie seen in theater in 2021

Alzheimer’s, Dementia, senility, whichever of these fearsome ills of aging is your nightmare, they are a reality for Antony (Anthony Hopkins).

Will start with the positive. I like when filmmakers show instead of tell. There was a strong attempt to make us feel as disoriented as the protagonist. Unusual and unexpected time, place and sub-character shifts. This is clever at first and quickly becomes frustrating.

We have to be able to understand what is reality and what is not and the reality is exactly what we see: we’re inside Antony’s head — and it’s a scary place. If you’re closer to his age than to youth, anyway.

As always, Anthony Hopkins’ performance is strong. I mean, we’re talking the guy who played Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs opposite Jodie Foster, but he doesn’t have a meaty, coherent story here sadly. Even the great Hopkins can’t save this mangled mess.

We left the theater staving off sleep and boredom in parts of this very slowwwwwwww film.

This was based on a play and that’s where it probably worked better. The sets were minimal, it wasn’t much to look at cinematically, more to feel through the dialogue and character performances. Not enough happens unfortunately given the runtime and it’s too depressing. It’s very artsy, which might appeal in Oscars voting, but there have been much better films in the last year. Not recommended.

Rating (out of 5 stars): ⭐️½ (Todd) ⭐️ (Kara)