2020 In Review: Uncle Frank



More like Hillbilly EleGAY, amirite?

(Please excuse the belligerent behavior)


* * * * *

Another Amazon Original, Uncle Frank has been pigeonholed by many filmgoers as suffering under the preachy weight of its belated "queer is cool" message, beating audiences over the head with clichéd themes of closet homosexuals being rejected by their Bible-thumping conservative family members until everyone learns a valuable lesson about equality (which feels about ten years too late), but despite the holes in the film's storytelling stereotypes, HBO veteran Alan Ball commands Paul Bettany in an emotionally controlled performance that steers his 1973 convertible of a script clear of enough potholes in order to depict the life of a gay man from half a century ago without crashing into droll familiarity.

Sophia Lillis (Sharp Objects) plays young and studious Beth who's always cherished her favorite Uncle Frank (Bettany), but obviously can't understand why he's constantly on the receiving end of some mean side-eye from other family members, notably her father, appropriately named Daddy Mac (Stephen Root doing his best Ron Swanson with a stroke). When Beth pays Frank a surprise visit at his loft only to find out he has a secret lover, Wally (a bearded Peter Macdissi attempting to steal our hearts), Uncle Frank begins to feel like it might become a coming of age--or coming out story through the eyes of a young woman in a world of toxic heterosexuality, but then Ball's film becomes an endearing road movie where Frank's dark past catches up with him, and that's when the gay = bad, God = good tropes become tropey.

Lillis ends up taking the back seat during the latter half of the film's drive, which is a shame considering her talents, but this is "Uncle Frank" after all ("Niece Beth" doesn't exactly have of a ring to it), and it can't be stressed enough how much of Frank is saved by Bettany, with the help of the charming and supportive Macdissi of course. More known in the public eye as cardboard-cutout Vision in the Marvel movies, Bettany finally steps into a third dimension with Uncle Frank, and from his porn 'stache, thinning hair and aviator sunglasses, down to his polo shirts and tight pants; with every drag of his cigarette, it feels like it's about damn time Bettany played an actual person, because this just might be the man's finest acting to date. Playing a shadow of a man, Bettany puts on real crying tears and crying tears are always worth more of a bargain than any green screen portrayal of him otherwise playing a red Power Ranger.


*5 points to Macdissi

*10 points to Bettany

Grade: B-

Popular posts from this blog

Insidious vs. The Conjuring

Image
Turn out the lights, get under a cover, grab your crucifixes and get ready for horror movie season, because this year, as far as masters in horror for this generation go, it takes Wan to know one.  Today I take Wan's two latest households of haunted-house horror, The Conjuring and the Insidious franchise, both featuring sheer terror, demons and the ability to keep you sleeping with the lights on, and will compare them, contrast them and examine not only what it is that makes these films so terrifying but what has compelled me enough to rant about what makes James Wan a master of his craft.    But before we can conjure up where Wan stands today, it is only fitting to take us back to the beginning of his first breakout horror flick and one of the most influential horror films of the last decade, this generation and of all time in the sense that it was a remarkable game changer.   Of course the film I'm referring to is Saw , a movie that lite...
Read more

Arrested to Arrested Development: 106 - Visiting Ours

Image
"George Michael had been terrified of the very notion of prison since, as a young boy, he accidentally watched HBO’s Oz, mistaking it for the classic Judy Garland musical." Truth and honesty begin to show up in Visiting Ours . George Michael lies to Maeby about visiting pop-pop in prison to show he's not afraid, but clearly is, ("give pop-pop your hair") Tobias and Lindsay finally begin to open up about their marital problems and step into each other's jeans just to get down to the core issues and it's about that time where just about everybody's looking to find that special someone to get their sexual release.   As far as arresting character development goes, we start to see even the least likable characters start to show some Jekyll's to their Hydes. Mama Bluth is called out on not visiting pop-pop since he was put away and Michael suggests she give him what he... can't exactly get from his children, to which she mistakes for pride...
Read more

Arrested to Arrested Development: 119 - Best Man For the Gob

Image
"Gilligan killed the skipper--I mean, stripper!" It is absolutely no secret that I tend to fall for the episodes where fast paced events take place, secrets and dastardly plots are whispered and lies and betrayal create plans that ultimately fail on a large scale... But then again, those tropes are nothing new to a show like Arrested Development.   It's very reminiscent to Pier Pressure in the sense in that it's related to a secret operation, many players involved, including Buster, who help ruin the operation and an involvement of male strippers dressed up as policemen... and other guests. Great moments include: "Annyong" Michael's office being either too cold or too hot... And essentially, the breakdown of the plot and highlight of the episode is as follows: Gob is to have a bachelor party for his new marriage with Amy Pohler. Gob picks Papa Bluth, not Michael, as his best man. Papa Blu...
Read more