This is a powerful provocative love story... love of parent to child, brother to brother, child to parent. It's tightly written, directed with sensitivity and superbly acted. For me, it was heartbreakingly real. The heartbreak (and superb acting) is in what's NOT spoken by the characters. The lump in my throat began when I understood Robert Downey Jr's (the son) dilemma. His father has rejected him for most of his adult life, and he feels loyalty and love for his father (Duvall), except his father does not want him around... or his help... though he's now in dire need of a brilliant lawyer to defend him in a murder trial. His father tells Downey to get lost, and Downey's face depicts his anguish... wanting nothing more than to disappear from his father's apparent hatred of him... but knowing he cannot... simply cannot abandon his father to a trial which will find him guilty of murder. So he stays, even when it means his father's psychological abuse beats him again and again to an emotional pulp. An hour after the end of the movie, my lump has grown to rock size... hauntingly real. I wouldn't be surprised if both Downey and Duvall get Oscar nominations. I hope they do. If your family acts out the many powerful emotional conflicts born out of love, in all its twisted and untethered extremes, you will understand this movie. And yet, it's a beautiful movie, because the darkness is all the more precious when cast against the powerful illumination of love.
IMDB Page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1872194/
Tags: Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Billy Bob Thornton, Vincent D'Onofrio, Jeremy Strong, Dax Shepard, Leighton Meester, Drama
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