Rating: R for language, some sexual references and drug use. 'Uncle Frank,' 3.5 starsĬast: Paul Bettany, Sophia Lillis, Peter Macdissi. That would have made “Uncle Frank” the film it could have been. If only he had retained the simplicity of the New York scenes.
(His voice when playing Vision in the Avengers movies is one of the best things in the entire Marvel universe.)īall piles on the melodrama in the last act, even though he clearly wants a nice, tidy conclusion. Tinged with a Southern accent here, it’s smooth and smoky, a delight to listen to. He infuses Frank with just the right amount of inner turmoil and confusion as he tries to balance his love for his family with the wounds they have inflicted upon him - and as he tries to come to terms with his own identity among them.Īlso, Bettany’s voice is a balm. Wally faces execution by beheading.īettany is outstanding. Macdissi plays Wally a little more broadly, but it’s moving when he calls his mother in Saudi Arabia - a mother he has to lie to about his life.
Unfortunately, once they get back to South Carolina, she practically disappears.
She brings a winning enthusiasm to the role. Lillis really shines as a precocious and curious young woman, excited by changes and challenges. Luckily, for the most part, they’re able to. Tinged with a Southern accent, Paul Bettany's voice is a balm It also allows Ball to indulge in less authentic-feeling scenarios, leaving it up to the actors to make something of them. This complicates things, as we see in instances of bigotry along the way. Then Wally shows up, tailing them in a rental car (a super cool convertible), despite Frank begging him not to come. We see periodic flashbacks revealing, a little at a time, why. Beth and Frank continue to bond, though Frank is clearly apprehensive about going home. Now it’s a road trip film, and at first a pretty good one. He and Beth borrow Wally’s car (a plot device prevents them from flying) and set out for South Carolina.Īnd “Uncle Frank” becomes a different movie. Home isn’t exactly a welcoming place for Frank, but he knows he has to return for his father’s funeral. The three of them fall into a comfortable familiarity, even as they’re learning so much about each other. (Britt Rentschler has a funny cameo as a chatty gay woman who fills in as a beard when needed.)Ī scene in which Beth sits in Frank and Wally’s apartment and the three of them talk is beautifully done and so well acted. He’s gay, and he lives with Walid (Peter Macdissi), whom he calls Wally, and has for 10 years. Then a date finagles their way into a party at Frank’s house and she learns that Frank, too, is who he wants to be when he’s away from the family. She sees Frank occasionally, but they’re both busy. She can be whoever she wants to be.įour years later, she is.
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Frank doesn’t visit often - Daddy Mac is openly hostile toward him - but when he does he pays attention to Beth, and he tells her she is not bound by her family’s constraints. Beth doesn’t relate to any of them - except, that is, for Uncle Frank (Paul Bettany), who moved to New York years ago and teaches literature at New York University. Terrific actors like Margo Martindale, Steve Zahn and Judy Greer play other family members.