Falling

There's a lot to commend here. The film is carefully structured, full of interesting detail while never losing sight of the story it wants to tell. On the surface it is a family tale, but underneath it is a drama of conflicting values, of care versus cruelty.

Viggo Mortensen the writer has a less steady hand than Viggo Mortensen the director. He has created an austere father figure who lacks the three-dimensionality of the carers he comes into conflict with. In spite of a towering, theatrical performance by Lance Henriksen, there is a feeling of something missing. It may be we just don't have enough back-story: how did this guy get this way? There's only a single line that might give a clue. It's not enough. However, the character's younger self is given a wider range of emotion to play, which Sverrir Gudnason siezes, runs with and scores triumphantly.

The female roles, though in a couple of cases rather sketchy in terms of what they say, are all superbly played, directed lovingly so that the camera fills in the gaps left by the absence of spoken words. This is particularly true of Hannah Gross's sensitive turn as Gwen.

Mortensen turns out to be a very good director of children. The young actors in the cast all give excellent performances.

Of Mortensen the actor there's only praise to give. It's been a joy watching him develop over these many years since his film debut in WITNESS. He's as compelling and believable as ever, never more so than in his tender relationship here with Terry Chen.

Well done, Viggo. Here's to the next one.

Lance Hendrickson is great if you want someone who is pissed off, depressed and has almost full blown Alzheimer's. Very sad and true to life character study. He also hates his son is gay.

Viggo, perhaps one of the most underrated actors of the past few decades gives a heartbreaking performance. He also steps behind the camera, flexing his directing chops to guide this film. At times hard to watch, Falling manages to use flashback with a uniqueness not quite seen. He pulls the onion back just enough to keep your attention, using colors, landscapes and sound design to make the viewer reflect inwards. It misses the mark in the casting department for me, as Lance Henirckson at times is so offensive you lose all compassion for a man that has truly lost his ability to connect his mind with his words. That being said, there is comfort in the likes of Moretnesen and Linney as they suffer through his gut wrenching diatribes, their sadness shines through. Slow paced and purposeful, Falling is a must see for anyone who has a family member battling dementia, or an insufferable parent.

I love Viggo Mortensen as an actor, and now as a director as well. The film is nuanced but not always an easy watch (slurs all around). The cast is truly excellent and Mortensen's poetic, meandering but still accessible directing style and score is exactly my cup of tea. and Lance Henriksen... amazing actor.

I was a bit skeptic to the film due to the "bad" score, but I liked the cast and was willing to give it a try. I am glad I did. This is one of those good films, with depth and very good acting. The scandinavian actors struggle some with sounding canadian/american, but it's not hurting the film. I guess the negative reviews are from folks wanting something else, this is just a good movie.