Toronto will be known as the place where Florian Zeller’s “The Son” officially crashed and burned. It has a 63 on MC and currently sits at 67% on Rotten Tomatoes.
In a way, the hate being directed at Zeller’s family drama is unwarranted, for 2/3 of the film you are mostly invested in the dynamics of this four-character piece. However, the ending irked me to no end and I think is probably the deal-breaker for much of the hate being spewed towards this film.
Jackman is stellar, until he is not. The guy has charisma, but at the end of the day, when his acting chops are called to be stretched for a few emotional scenes, he kind of strikes out. Ditto the movie, which wraps up in improbably weak fashion. On a more positive note, Vanessa Kirby is excellent here.
This means that Austin Butler (Elvis), Brendan Fraser (The Whale), Bill Nighy (Living), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin) and, yes, Tom Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick) have had their stocks rise these last few weeks. Also, watch out for Diego Calva (Babylon) in the coming months.
I’m not sure how this is going to turn out, but Michael Mann “secretly recut” his ‘Miami Vice’ movie, which has now led to the 4k restoration, a “Director’s Fina Cut,” to world premiere on October 3.