Wildlife (2018)- BFI London Film Festival 2018

Review

104min

Genre:     Drama

Director:  Paul Dano

Cast:       Ed Oxenbould, Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal…and more

Writers:   Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan and Richard Ford

-Synopsis-

Having just settled into life in picturesque suburban Montana of the early 1960s, a dignified teenager begins to suffer in silence as he watches his family fall apart when his dad loses his job and becomes absent, while his mother seeks solace in the arms of another man—as versatile young actor Paul Dano makes his directorial debut with an adaptation of the Richard Ford novel.

After nearly two decades of impressively bringing idiosyncratic, often intense and occasionally unsettling characters to life on the silver screen, Dano turns fully fledged filmmaker and teams up with his co-writer, producer and real life partner Zoe Kazan to adapt Ford’s 1993 period novel take on classic American family dysfunction. Giving us a subtle and restrained but emotive portrait of silent desperation and dignified dissolution, which seems consigned to another time and place, yet timely and eerily reflective of relationship struggles anywhere.

Ed Oxenbould stars as young but emotionally mature, unassuming teenager ‘Joe’, whose new life in scenic Montana is upended when his dad ‘Jerry’ (Jake Gyllenhaal) loses his golf groundskeeper job and struggles with his responsibilities, opting for an escape route fighting the local wildfires and leaving his son and wife ‘Jeanette’ (Carey Mulligan) somewhat in the lurch. But Jeanette has a steely determination in dealing with a marriage on the rocks, keeping up appearances and turning the breadwinner while broken and raging inside, leading her to the charms of wealthy local businessman acquaintance ‘Warren Miller’ (Bill Camp), and perhaps putting a final nail in the coffin of a doomed marriage . . . which will be endured with quiet anguish, but a begrudging acceptance.

A longtime passion project for Dano and Kazan, it’s no surprise that the fledgling director chose for his debut to adapt this tale of dysfunctional family and parental separation, a topic he’s already declared as something he wants to investigate going forward. It is however perhaps surprising just how well crafted, mature and accomplished his opening directorial gambit proves to be—although a quick glance at his filmography, and the level of filmmaker with whom he’s worked suggests his acting career has been the best film school he could have hoped for.

To describe the drama in ‘Wildlife’ as subtle would probably be an understatement, this is a nuanced family drama and introspective fare to be sure, and an un-melodramatic melodrama to boot. But although there are no histrionics or any abrupt life-changing tragedy on show, there’s plenty of emotion and the repressed angst of people who’ve lost faith and control here, all kept under the surface and occasionally bubbling up, but suffered in silence as is typical of the time and place . . . yet still timely and relatable, and all the more honest for it.

Dano’s decisions as a first-time cinematic craftsman are studied, and help to set a melancholic but honest tone for the film from the first frame, including the hiring of young Mexican cinematographer Diego García (Cemetery of Splendor, Neon Bull) to give the film a level of naturalism and bring out the splendour of the landscape photography, as well as giving it a classic aesthetic and capturing the costume and production designs which provide a late 1950s authenticity. Meanwhile much of the unspoken mood and emotion of the piece is augmented by a fittingly understated score from classical composer, songwriter and occasional film scorer David Lang (The Great Beauty, Youth).

As with any character piece, particularly a tender and earnest but largely unsentimental one, it’s the performances which give the narrative life . . . or not, and in this case the film is blessed with an embarrassment of riches. In his adult leads, Dano has two of the most accomplished youngish stars working in Hollywood today, with Gyllenhaal shining as always in the slightly smaller but more intense role as the conflicted and emasculated but loving father who seeks an escape, while Mulligan is splendid as the flawed but obliging mother, demure on the outside but raging inside—at this point proving so adept at playing troubled but steely American women of different eras that we hardly recognise her as a modern British woman anymore.

Meanwhile the always dependable and authoritative Bill Camp is in top-notch support mode as the third part of a rather two-sided love triangle. But it’s the film’s youngest star Ed Oxenbould who subtly steals the show and proves the heart and soul of the piece, as the conscientious fourteen-year-old who bears witness to his family’s disintegration with heartbreaking stoicism, proving to be the real adult of the piece—as Oxenbould establishes himself as the latest product of the Aussie conveyor belt of acting chameleons.

Yet for all the merits and its impressive subtleties, ‘Wildlife’ just feels like it’s lacking something, an edge or an urgency, and at times feels a little too nuanced and restrained for its own good. It’s not often we say this, but a little more melodrama might not have gone amiss here . . . even at the risk of looking disingenuous or out of place. But although it doesn’t completely capture our imagination or stir our hearts, ‘Wildlife’ certainly earns our admiration—as this polished debut proves a captivating, relatable and candid portrait of divorce, and a cinematic tapestry of dignity and courage in despair and emotional turmoil.

The Bottom Line…

While it may prove a tad too subtle for its own good, and unlikely to light up audiences or garner global acclaim, Paul Dano’s first go in the director’s chair is a mature, introspective and accomplished debut. An honest and well crafted period family drama, ‘Wildlife’ is as emotive as it is subtle, taking advantage of the considerable acting talents on show, and getting us excited for a career behind the camera . . . from a man who shone in front of it.

‘Wildlife’ is out on the 9th of November in the UK, and on the 19th of October in selected US cinemas.

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