Wildlife (2018)

I really like Paul Dano as an actor and Zoe Kazan is really growing on me, so the two of them co-writing a script and Dano directing the movie is definitely something I cannot overlook. If you have Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal, you get a movie one an idiot can pass. So yeah, I had huge expectations for Dano's directorial debut, Wildlife. 

Set in 1960, the story follows the Brinson family, Jeanette (Carey Mulligan), Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal) and their teenage son, Joe (Ed Oxenbould), as they move to Great Falls, Montana. When Jerry loses his job and refuses to take it back out of pride, he decides to join a group of volunteers to fight fires. As soon as Jerry leaves, something awakens in Jeanette and Joe is suddenly forced into the role of an adult. 

Based on Richard Ford's novel of the same name, Dano's Wildlife has a simple and yet gripping story that is both a coming-of-age drama as Joe is forced to grow up way before his time and a portrayal of a woman's existential crisis as Jeanette realises she doesn't know who she is outside of the perfect 1950s housewife. 

As you probably guessed, it's not a plot-heavy film. On the contrary, it's one of those movies that entirely relies on the characters and that's the film's greatest strength as the characters are complex and quite fascinating. Joe isn't just a kid witnessing his parents' marriage falling apart, as the film is described on any major movie website; he is a 14-year-old boy who is forced to step up and be the man of the house when his father leaves, forced to get a job and leave education and teen experiences —like having a girlfriend— behind; he is a boy who helplessly watches his mother fall apart. Jeaninne is the typical loving, seemingly happy but actually bitter, unhappy (house)wife subservient to her husband. She feels trapped in her life and when her husband leaves, she sees her opportunity to reinvent herself. At first, she comes off as a self-absorbed, selfish, cold bitch —pardon my langauge— but, as the film moves forward, we learn who she really is, a lost woman who is so used to being lost, unhappy that she doesn't recognize herself nor happiness when it's right in front of her. Jerry loves his wife and son; he is a good-natured man but he just doesn't seem to be able to keep a job and he is too proud to take low-paying, humiliating —according to him— jobs such as bag boy. 

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As for the performances, they are very compelling. Carey Mulligan truly conveys her character's psychological breakdown and delivers a performance filled with genuine emotions. Jake Gyllenhaal is great as usual as the hard-working father. Bill Camp provides solid support as the man Jeanette has an affair with. It's Ed Oxenbould that steals the show though with a subtle and yet intense performance as Joe.

In addition, Wildlife features a stunning cinematography and a score that fits the story incredibly well. As for Dano's direction, I think he did pretty well. While at times the film is a bit melodramatic, the characters' actions don't always make sense —Jerry's behaviour towards the end—, the film is overall gripping and telling the story from the boy's perspective is a winning choice as it allows you to experience the story as Joe does.