Friday, June 30, 2017

Wakefield (2016)

I loved this story of a lawyer who, instead of returning to his suburban home one evening, hides in the attic above his detached garage. For months. Narrating his thoughts as he spies on his wife and two daughters. Bryan Cranston (last blogged for Why Him?) is predictably wonderful in the title role, both as time goes by and in flashbacks. We also see Jennifer Garner (most recently in Danny Collins) as his wife and, as her mother Babs, hated by Wakefield, Beverly D'Angelo (some noteworthy roles were Maid to Order (1987); all the National Lampoon Vacation movies, many of which I haven't seen; and 25 episodes of Entourage, in which she was also called Babs).

Director/writer Robin Swicord, daughter-in-law of Elia Kazan and mother of Zoe Kazan, directed one other feature and adapted screenplays for, among others, Little Women (1994), Practical Magic (1998), and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005). This movie is based on a short story by E.L. Doctorow which was in turn based on a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Like so many independent movies, this has a terrific score, and, unlike many, it's available online, to stream on YouTube. The composer is Aaron Zigman (Alpha Dog (2006), Akeelah and the Bee (2006), Take the Lead (2006), Martian Child (2007), Flash of Genius, My Sister's Keeper, The Proposal, and The Company Men, to name a few).

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new winner of the producers plethora prize, unseating The Butler with 41 producers. Wow. I saw Wakefield two weeks ago during its limited run here but its estimated release on DVD and streaming is this August, 2017.

Rotten Tomatoes critics are averaging 74% and its critics 67. Again, I think that's too low.

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