Being Flynn

2012 "We're All Works In Progress"
6.4| 1h42m| R| en| More Info
Released: 02 March 2012 Released
Producted By: Depth of Field
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.BeingFlynn.com
Synopsis

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.

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lasttimeisaw Being a compulsive completist of Ms. Moore (or basically any other prolific thespians), one is destined to face some meh-worthy titles in her immense body of work, BEING FLYNN unfortunately fits that category.Directed and written by Paul Weitz, the story is based on the true story of Nick Flynn (Dano), a young wannabe-writer works temporarily in a Boston shelter for homeless people, who is contracted by his father Jonathan Flynn (De Niro), for the first time after 18 years and later, Nick comes across him again in the shelter, Jonathan, a taxi driver and self-boasting poet and writer (in fact, he humbles himself to be just one of the three greatest American writers ever, guess who are the other two?), vexingly brags that he is float on the fringe of being discovered for his yet-to-be- finished novel, experiences a downward spiral in his recent life and is plunged into the abyss of vagrancy.A platitudinous plot of father-son's from-bitter-to-sweet reconciliation will duly pans out after their unplanned reunion, but before that, Weitz promisingly juggles with two paralleled narrations from Jonathan and Nick separately with considerable verve. Both contend to be the more proficient raconteur, Jonathan is the apposite re-imagination of what will happens to Travis Bickle after TAXI DRIVER (1976), still a cabby in his twilight year, ever so discontented, prejudiced and delusional. And Nick, seems to be stuck in a limbo reckoning with his future and relationships, who attempts a casual relationship with his co-worker Denise (Thirlby, whom by the way, seems utterly uninterested in their romance) after cheating from his air-hostess girlfriend (a cameo from Waterston), and is unable to pull himself together from his fond memories of his late mother Jody (Moore, underused in her single-mother cliché with subtle frustration and taedium vitae gnawing underneath her calm facade, it is a sheer crime that she doesn't share any scenes with De Niro! What are you thinking, Mr. Weitz?) and an oscillating resolution to shut Jonathan completely out of his life.As thrilling as to see De Niro return as a cabby with the unabated fervour (one of his most committed work in ages) and he even delivers another bombast in front of a mirror as a patent homage, woefully one finds his Jonathan comes off as overbearing, insufferable and nuances are extremely wanting, a radical, sexist, homophobic, racist, family-deserter, coward, egoist, it is a clumsy tactic to make him that abhorrent and hope empathy will smoothly ensue later. Granted, it seems courageous for Flynn to insist on an unadorned depiction of his's own father (since this kind of character does exist, everywhere), it is ups to Weitz that a certain dramatic license is required to smooth Jonathan's edges, not at the least because eventually, it is all about a heartwarming and hard-earned second chance of a long-lost family bond, in lieu of a justified broadside against an irresponsible father and an incorrigible daydreamer.Dano looks quite self-conscious in scenes shared with De Niro, but excels in rendering Nick's dithering frame-of-mind towards his personal dilemma. The depiction of the working conditions in a shelter dealing with hobos is both minutely re-enacted and consciously sanitised, dark corners are left undisclosed, lest it will avert many a fastidious viewer, that can be regarded as an encapsulation of the film as a whole, a character study could go digging into something more contentious and darker (for example, what is Jonathan's attitude about his abandonment? He never betrays anything even remotely contrite in front of his son), that's why the end result is neither consistently exciting nor awfully mawkish, nondescript seems to be the right word I'm searching for here.
David This follows the unexpected reunion between an irresponsible conniving father, and his son who he's been totally estranged from for 18 years. The only reason he tracks his son down at all is for help vacating his apartment which the son obliges him with, telling you something about both of them. The son is emotionally scarred by the absence of his father and the cruel circumstances of his mother's suicide. Perhaps against his better judgement he reaches out to his father but is not surprisingly burned in the process. It becomes about the boy's battle with his demons, decoupling himself from his father's curse, and reclaiming his life.It's painful to watch the boy struggling with the urge to cling to the life buoy his father represents, but holding himself back because of his residual anger at his father's absence and negligence. If he handles the situation wrong he could end up going down with a sinking ship.You get an idea of what it's like going from living in an apartment to living on the street - not something I recall seeing on the big screen before, so worth watching for that alone. Really refreshing to see De Niro trying to act again after some of the vapid paydays he's been churning out over the last decade or so. I thought he'd totally run out of steam but clearly there's a bit left in the tank. He does a great job here anyway. Quite believable as the complex narcissistic rogue.Paul Dano turns in a decent performance but wouldn't have been my choice for the role. I think he may be a good actor some day but he's not there yet IMO. It all seems too deliberate and affected. Julianne Moore and Olivia Thirlby are pretty good in support.The film has an honest and believable quality about it; just lets the story tell itself without trying to be too sophisticated. There's no OTT horrific cold turkey scenes, no explicit sex scenes, no gratuitous violence. All pretty mundane and believable stuff, which worked well here I thought.All in all this is a superior father/son tale told simply. Definitely worth a watch.
tlutzy 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.
p-stepien "Being Flynn" is an awkward, semi-detached autobiographical movie based on the memoirs of Nick Flynn written down in his acclaimed book "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City". Nick Flynn (played with true zest by rising quality actor Paul Dano) recaps a period of his life, when still uncertain of having any publishing future encourages him to take up a temporary post at a homeless shelter in Boston. Once there he comes across his estranged and increasingly manic father (a masterful return by Robert De Niro), a self-proclaimed classic writer, who approaches the facility after losing his apartment and livelihood in the form of a taxi business. Left during childhood Nick feels a need for attachment, but simultaneously cannot garner to trust the unfatherly figure. Instead this enhances memories of his mother (played by Julianne Moore), who worked two jobs in an attempt to raise him as a single mother, until finally committing suicide. The situation forces a collision in an extreme situation, as Flynn's father falls from grace with Nick reluctant to help pick up the pieces.A somewhat surprising entry by Paul Weitz, probably best known for being the culprit behind the "American Pie" franchise. Rarely comedic, instead it dabbles in the underbelly of both society and family life, engaging throughout mostly due to the terrific performances by its lead cast. The drama lingers creating atmospheric tension between the two main characters, so even if the movie fails to convey a powerful story and has its moments of prolonged lack of direction, the end result brings about a realistic dark portrait. Somewhat depressing in tone "Being Flynn" above all marks a return to greatness by De Niro and a further marked rise as a future great actor by Paul Dano. Despite some script frailties and occasional incapability for dramatic direction by Weitz, it is still a worthwhile watch and at least a very intriguing character study about generational relations.