Uncle Frank

Starring: Paul Bettany, Sophia Lillis, Peter Macdissi, Steve Zahn, Judy Greer, Margo Martindale, Stephen Root, Lois Smith, Jane McNeill, Caity Brewer
Directed by: Alan Ball
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
2020

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: In the 1970s, Beth (Sophia Lillis) feels a close bond with her Uncle Frank (Paul Bettany), who has escaped the limitations of their family and lives in the city. Her own journey follows his path, but she's surprised when she discovers that he's gay.

Review:

Tim: Amazon's Uncle Frank is a beautiful, poignant movie from writer/director Alan Ball. I didn't expect to fall so in love with the various characters, their challenges, and their journeys. This is a movie that hits more emotional notes than you might expect and leaves an impression long after the film ends. It's a really good film.

Over the years, I've seen so many of these dramedies. Sometimes they work, but they often leave too much to be desired. It's hard to tell a story about a family, identify their quirks and uniqueness, put interesting obstacles in front of them, and navigate the audience through it in a satisfactory fashion, all in 90 minutes. That's exactly what Ball achieves here. The Bledsoe family comes to life on screen. The characters are all relatable- you might not have someone exactly like them all in your family, but the echoes of their characters resonant in many, many families across the country. The movie does a good job identifying the functions and dysfunctions of any extended family and mines that drama for insight into life. This movie is about families, but it's also about individuality. It's about how we are shaped by our upbringing, but we're not controlled by it. I found the messages inherent in this film to be beautiful, memorable, and enduring. This is a movie I wish more people watched and took lessons from. As I say all this, I need to highlight that Ball keeps the movie rolling at a good pace. I never felt bored or distracted. I was engaged throughout and highly entertained. The dialogue is effective, there's so many funny moments, and it tugs at the heartstrings quite often. It delivers just about everything you'd want in a film like this.

While the story and direction is impressive, the movie is made by its wonderful cast. We'll start with Paul Bettany as the titular Uncle Frank. Bettany continues to be one of the most underrated actors out there. He's done great work for Marvel over the previous several years, so it's easy to forget he's immensely talented. His performance here highlights all the strengths he has as an actor. He disappears into this role and brings the character to vivid life. I loved what he did in this movie. Sophia Lillis is good, but it feels like her performance is clearly below the rest of the cast. It's not exactly fair to compare her to the extremely experienced cast, but it was noticeable. She gives a good performance, but doesn't connect as powerfully to the audience as she needed to. I loved some of the other characters and Lillis was there, holding the story together. I never truly felt that deep emotional pull from her character. I think she's talented and will give better performances with more experience. She's good here, but she doesn't elevate the character at all. Steve Zahn was well cast, but in a small role. I like Zahn so much, I just wish he had more screen time. The same can be said for Judy Greer, who is quite limited in her small, marginal role. Margo Martindale makes every movie better and she does so here, but again, it's surprising how much she was limited. Stephen Root manages to use his small screen time to great effect- his performance is hard to watch, but all the characters circle around his orbit. It's a testament to how subtly effective Root is. Lois Smith is always fun to see, too. Now, I rarely ask for movies to be longer, but I feel like another 6 minutes of giving this impressive supporting cast more screen time was warranted. That would still bring in the movie in at 1 hour, 40 minutes- which doesn't seem too long at all.

Now, I wanted to reserve a separate paragraph for Peter Macdissi. I've never taken notice of him as an actor before this role, but I was blown away by his performance. It's absolutely perfect. He hits all the right notes throughout the film- he's funny, warm, caring, challenging, complex. He feels like an authentic, real person on the screen. Macdissi brings so much energy to the role, everything he does with so much heart that Wally emerges as one of the best parts of the entire film. It's a perfect example of an actor elevating the character, becoming a scene stealer, and yet, always contributing to the movie. He makes the characters around him better with his performance. I loved every second of his screen time here. I'm not entirely sure how he did this in a cast made up of talented, more famous people. And yet, as much as I loved Bettany here, I think most fondly of Macdissi and how he brought Wally to life. It's a stunningly beautiful performance a big reason why I liked this movie so much.

Uncle Frank is an exceptional movie. It's one of the most emotional, heartwarming films of the year. It's a beautiful film that I truly enjoyed watching. It has some great scenes- the "stupider than you look" scene is my favorite of the entire film. This is Sophia Lillis at her best- her line delivery in this scene is absolutely perfect. And then, Macdissi's laughing makes me want to cry, it so perfectly highlights the moment. It's one great scene in a truly effective movie that I so enjoyed watching.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5



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