FATHERS
AND SONS
by Les Phillips

 

Two films with family themes. I liked one of them a lot.

Life as a House features Hayden Christensen as a spoiled, rich, vaguely criminal, drug-dependent punk (with several excellent body piercings). His hostile and somewhat violent father, Kevin Kline, orders him to leave the luxurious house of Mom and come with him for the summer, so that he can live in a one-room garage without plumbing, and help Dad do heavy construction during the day.

Christensen: "You have nothing to offer me! You have no house! You have no money! You don't even have a job!" The kid has a point. In any reasonable non-film world, this would be a clear recipe for further domestic disaster. But we are in cliché world - Dad is an obnoxious rebel who also has some kind of magically transforming moral boy-raising sense. Where did this come from? From your sentimental willingness to believe such a thing; certainly not from the script, which repeatedly explains clichés in terms of other clichés. And it even stacks the deck emotionally - Dad has a horrible secret...

This film, directed by Irwin Winkler, dislikes yuppies, class prejudice, spoiled kids, and corporate stupidity. It's not clear what it does like, exactly. I think the writer (Mark Andrus, who also wrote As Good As It Gets) believes that primal anger, channeled through power tools, purifies the soul, especially if you can arrange to build your house on a stunningly beautiful Pacific seascape. It's not convincing.

Kristen Scott Thomas is the supine mom/ex-wife. She's drawn back to the housebuilding and the Kline, for similarly inexplicable reasons. She can't play the part convincingly, but she's beautiful and dignified. Christensen got Mentioned for a number of acting awards by the great Award Mentioner, and he is certainly much better than average as an overwrought teenage drug fiend. I can't remember the last time I liked Kevin Kline in a film. Sometimes the title is, or should be, a dead giveaway. Maoist operas made their points more subtly.

Freddy Got Fingered is about another father and son odyssey, with a more convincing, happier ending. The film has been correctly described as loud, stupid, senseless, and obnoxious, and is particularly notorious for Tom Green's cavortings with various animals. It just swept the Razzie awards, which are given for the worst movie and performances of the year. Wel, it's definitely not for everyone, and my reaction to it may very well be determined mostly by the medication I'm taking lately, but I couldn't stop laughing. And it works, on its own terms, far better than most films I've seen in the past year.

A summary of the plot would make no sense at all, and a description of the most original and hilarious pieces of Freddy Got Fingered would offend many readers, so let's put it this way: this film is ingenious in its transgressions. Green is a lunatic - whatever else he is, he's unpredictable. Like many great screwball comedies, the film keeps rolling and rolling on pure, uninhibited energy. Rip Torn, as Green's father, is a particular delight. I can't think of another actor of comparable distinction who would ever, ever, agree to appear in this film, much less in a major role. Torn has always been a subversive. He knows exactly what's called for here, and he's actually willing to do it. Lee Strasberg would be proud. And the title doesn't even come close to giving it away.

©2002 Les Phillips
CineScene