For as well-acted as this is throughout, I was almost willing to flippantly dismiss I Never Sang for My Father as "Gene Hackman having daddy issues for 90 minutes," but then the final act came around and bowled me over. This is a film that flounders around for about an hour, and then really delivers when it comes to its final 20 to 30 minutes. It does pretty much tell you where the story's going to go in its opening scene, and then it takes a while to get to that point, but the final couple of scenes are amazingly well-acted and really bring everything home.
I guess even from the title, you can tell this film will be sad. It still surprised me, though. It explores the relationships present in a family full of emotionally wounded people, and while it pulls its punches early on, it doesn't back down as it approaches its ending.
It had me wondering whether I was a little too harsh on the earlier parts of I Never Sang for My Father, but even then, I didn't think the first two acts of the film were bad. It's a movie that stars Gene Hackman in his prime, after all, and I think even the worst 1970s movies that star Gene Hackman can still be described as watchable.
Keeping things vague, even though the movie lays everything on the table right at the start, but just watch it for the final few scenes, which give Hackman and Melvyn Douglas both chances to shine and just deliver devastating monologue after devastating monologue to each other. I can see why this was originally a stage play, and it might well work better in that format, but this film ends strong, and still admittedly starts pretty decent too (if just a little slow, in a typically 1970s way).
I guess even from the title, you can tell this film will be sad. It still surprised me, though. It explores the relationships present in a family full of emotionally wounded people, and while it pulls its punches early on, it doesn't back down as it approaches its ending.
It had me wondering whether I was a little too harsh on the earlier parts of I Never Sang for My Father, but even then, I didn't think the first two acts of the film were bad. It's a movie that stars Gene Hackman in his prime, after all, and I think even the worst 1970s movies that star Gene Hackman can still be described as watchable.
Keeping things vague, even though the movie lays everything on the table right at the start, but just watch it for the final few scenes, which give Hackman and Melvyn Douglas both chances to shine and just deliver devastating monologue after devastating monologue to each other. I can see why this was originally a stage play, and it might well work better in that format, but this film ends strong, and still admittedly starts pretty decent too (if just a little slow, in a typically 1970s way).