Len and Company

"Len and Company" feels like a character study without much character. We get little bits of information here and there, but nothing very interesting. Rhys Ifans seems to be playing himself.

The story is something to do with a curmudgeonly music producer who lives alone when his son comes to visit. Soon after, the pop star he helped create also shows up, though I was never really sure as to why.

If you're interested in a "realistic" take on this situation, "Len and Company" may actually be up your alley. It feels naturalistic to the point of tedium. The actors all come across as very natural, and there is no attempt to give them distinct personalities. The direction is also really colourless. I got that the main character is supposed to be a closed-off genius of some description, but he just seemed like a jerk. I couldn't bring myself to care about any of this.

Len and Company is a lean and mean cinematic machine. A gem of a genuinely funny, quirky and heart-warming film you don't want to end.

I saw an early morning screening at TIFF to a pleased crowd and with writer-director and the two lead actors.

Tim Godsall is a Toronto native who is behind some of the world's most innovative and funny commercials in most part including Axe and XBOX, but now he express himself fully in his first feature, filmed in Ontario but representing upstate New York contemplative country setting.

The character of Len, played brilliantly by Rhys Ifans, is the main draw of this story because it could have been a cliché rock star satyr, but breathes instead of freshness, frailty and lots of humanness without losing its rough edges and "coolness" factor. Balanced with a lost son looking for acceptance, estranged wife, friendly younger neighbour and a talented but tormented young artist (Zoe) played by Juno Temple, the story reaches a near-perfect portrayal of a man who had it all, but is lost in the world. This multi-character interplay is spot on from both acting and directing standpoint and you could see that a real synergy had developed between all of them.

Every scene had dramatic tension but with a lot of humour throughout and actual exploration of human, artistic, psychological and philosophical truths or realities. You got to know and care about all this characters, feel for them and laugh with them. See the world through their eyes for a while and wish maybe you could have been in their less than perfect world a little longer but also appreciating your less than perfect world more when the credits rolled all too soon.

Jack Kilmer plays the son, Max, in perfect opposition to Rhys Ifans, Juno Temple and the other supporting cast. He keeps the movie grounded and real as opposed to Len (and Zoe)'s eccentricities. But Len is Len and scenes like his autobiographic rant in the classroom are classic comedy at a high degree, but not without the levity and bitterness both felt by the character and omnipresent in the farce, making it never far-fetched.

Tim Godsall took the right script with the right people, added some choice music and made it magic! Script, silence, dialogue, images, music and mood mixed to perfection.

May we see more movies (and dare I say less commercials) from a clear storyteller with a welcome edge. Best movie of 2015 so far? You got it. Other critics point out some petty underutilization of some story elements, supporting acting (compared to Ifans unanimous monster performance) or pace (note: the movie seems to have been trimmed down from 102 to 97 mins). I rather see this film to be a self-contained contemporary concoction that does not try to be all-encompassing but rather fleeting but with feeling like all its characters. In this aspect, its achieves this with extraordinary efficacy. The emotions, laughter and struggle resonate and the resolution or (lacktherof) is a recipe for enjoyable repeat viewing.

Canada 2015 | 97 mins | Toronto International Film Festival | English

Although this unassuming story about a rock star turned producer turned recluse proceeds at a somewhat leisurely pace, underneath the exchanges among rocker father, Len (Rhys Ifans),son Max (Jack Kilmer),and rock singer Zoe (June Temple) is discord that can't be quieted. It's a strong story about parents and mentoring that refuses to be bland.

The only unsurprising element is the lack of communication between father and son, who's blamelessly trying to get his father's checked-out attention, albeit fulfilling his father's jaded prediction that everyone wants something by trying to get his producer-father to listen to his band's demo. Around the current Father's Day, the dysfunction is not a surprise for any of us who want better communications with our children.

Len's protégé, Zoe, asks nothing more than to see him in his remote digs, and while she has the typical drug problem of many rockers, she bonds with Max and makes small inroads into Len's wall of silence. Besides being a good story of dysfunction, Len and Company gives a non-strident critique of the isolating nature of success.

No better example than when Len visits his young friend, William (Keir Gilchrist), at his class to talk about his business. The colorful language and racy stories leave the school kids and teacher stunned, but there is freshness in his lecture that could be beneficial to their future.

Therein lies the irony of the story, a remote rocker exiled from the world but still capable of moving even the youngest in an audience.

And entertaining, stylistic and a truly neat journey to experience, is Val's kid not a superstar in the making or what? lol, totally cool, I can't wait to see him bloom with lots of great scripts. This was funny and interesting but not in your face rock n roll, that is what makes is so intriguing, it was able to reach its climacteric with a climax but seemingly anti-climactic which makes it more reflective and thoughtful as it hovers along a slow titillating meditation on storytelling.

It seems like this one didn't get a big audience. Well they missed out. This a fine little drama. Rhys Ifans steals the show as the grumpy and eccentric has been rock star but it also has a strong supporting cast with Juno Temple, Jack Kilmer and Keir Gilchrist. It is a movie about parents and children. Particularly fathers and sons and how the parents screw up the ones their are suppose to love unconditionally. Good performances, nice set pieces and a good story make for heartfelt movie.