Truly Dreadful Film

A Disappointing Continuation

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

gray. touching. almost beautiful. profound cruel. and melancholic. a film with a rare, for last decade, de Niro. and an impressive Paul Dano performance. a basic story, like many others. a son, a father, the meeting. and the life like field of battle for each. it is a kind of parable. its virtue - the delicacy to present nuances of shadows , gestures and words.nothing else. nothing more. only reality in frame of a case. and the end as key of a way. it is a film about common existence. frustration, place in world, expectations, lies as forms of survive. seed of reflection. and force of actors performance, wise script , slice of common fact in different light.

In what must have come as a shock to the poor old bugger, De Niro gets parachuted into a real film! For quite some time now De Niro has simply had to turn up on set, stay awake for a couple of hours and collect a handsome pay check. In what must have been bewildering for a man of his advancing years such vaguely familiar phrases from the mists of time such as "plot" "characterization" and "motivation" were being thrown at him from all angles. Could the venerable duffer rise to the challenge? Partly... Even though strictly speaking De Niro isn't the star he certainly carries this movie, his co-stars, stunned like dazzled rabbits caught in the headlights, don't really convince. Paul Dano continues to play the same disaffected teenager we saw in "Little Miss Sunshine" while the rest of the cast keep there heads down and make for cover. Julianne Moore takes the bull by the horns, pity there aren't any scenes with her and De Niro.

This intense drama - based on a true story - deserves much more attention and praise it has received until today. Of course, the background is painful and ugly - homeless shelter and related places are not nice and customary places of action - but extreme places usually boost people's good and bad habits and attitudes. The plot is logical, reasoning and depravities have been smoothly incorporated; the ending is interesting as well.Robert De Niro gives one of his strongest performances of the decade, having a different part than he is usually known for. Paul Dano is no "weakling" either: he is definitely among the best 20+ movie actors - and even without having "cute" appearance! If you have not seen movies with Dano, it is time to begin now - with L.I.E., for example. Flying Flynn is no entertainment and hardly recommendable as a family movie, but it must be a strong experience for groups of like-minded.

Saw this one on DVD from my public library. De Niro and Dano pair well in this father/son story, dirty and gripping at times, alternately sad and funny, it pays off if you watch it all the way through.Robert De Niro is Jonathan Flynn, by his own account one of only three great American authors. Problem is his book has not been published, he is estranged from his grown son for 18 years, and he drives a taxi in New York. He has a running conflict with his downstairs neighbors who play their live music too loud. After an incident where he starts an altercation he is evicted. Paul Dano is his son, Nick Flynn. His mother is dead, he knows that he is his father's son, he has been influenced by his father to become a writer, but when he meets up with dad again fears that he is following too closely in dad's footsteps, becoming a delusional failure and a drunk.Their chance to meet again comes a few weeks after Nick takes a job at a NYC homeless shelter. After Jonathan becomes homeless, lives in his cab for a while, then wrecks it, has to go to the shelter to get out of the winter weather. Jonathan and Nick have an uneasy time of it, but this eventually helps both of them see a way out of their respective plights.Julianne Moore is Jody Flynn , Nick's deceased mother.SPOILERS: Jody had killed herself after reading an unfinished story her son wrote, and he had carried that blame. At one point his dad assures him that no one can cause another to kill themselves. After several tense encounters Jonathan finally gets his own apartment again, seems to be coping well, Nick goes back to college gets his degree and teaches, and writes an award-winning book of poetry.