The Confirmation

Every dad (ok, all of us) has flaws. Sometimes kids, help us see our flaws, and make us want to do better. This movie isn't a blockbuster movie with all sorts of action, but well worth the 102 minutes. It held my interest throughout the entire movie. Pretty decent acting from Jaeden Martell, who plays Anthony.

The film makers chose not to feature the intense desperation of the Italian film The Bicycle Thief, used zero profanity, and a deadpan kid. Those may actually be reasons why some would dislike this film, but I found it all oddly seductive.

Like another reviewer mentioned, nobody was vicious or truly mean here. Almost everyone, despite their poverty, had soul. Imagine a world where even in a gray desperate setting, people restrain themselves from the savagery that such places evoke in the real world.

Some may ask why you need to cast a British guy in a film set in Washington and filmed in Canada. But I found Owen endearing and the dialogue he was given sublime. Someone decided that his face and demeanor fit the character, and I believe they did. Good call.

Most of the "stars" are not really stars, and I appreciated seeing them get some work. Robert Forster is perfect for these roles, and Maria Bello totally looked the part.

I don't know why they needed to make the boy be eight years old. The actor was way older than that. Clearly an eight year old would not be able to think or act as this one did. They should have made him 10, although the actor was 12. The unbelievable age thing was an awkward glitch for me.

I'm glad they didn't use a soundtrack. The silence helped illustrate the depressed nature of the town. I've been to a depressed town in Washington. It's real.

For whatever reasons, these film makers made the choice to present this story in a sort of Jim Jarmusch existentially absurd way. I liked that approach and did not judge it by other potential ways of doing it. I accepted it for what it was.

This is one film where the synopsis does not do the film justice. If I had only read that, I doubt if I would have watched the film at all. Even though the summary is correct, it fails to elucidate the subtleties in the plot and the fine acting that underpins the storyline.

First of all, I hate films that feature kids. The kids are all stereotyped in most films. Either they are too cute or too cynical, spoiled, and arrogant to be compelling. You can be sure that 1) they will be the one that cause the problems or 2) they will be transformed into 'good kids' by the end of the film.

Jaeden Lieberher, who plays the main kid role, is believable. Clive Owen, who I think is often underrated as an actor, does his usual solid performance as a recovering alcoholic-father. But it is the supporting actors who bring this slice-of-life drama to perfection. The emotional fine points in the plot could not have come through without them.

After watching it myself, I decided to watch the film with my 13-year-old son. Normally, he likes the action movie, super hero, special effects-laden films, so this was a bit of a transition. The verdict? He could associate with a lot of the interactions that went on in the film from a kid's point of view and enjoyed watching it. Adults will like it for the insights into adult relationships.

It will not be for everyone. I would guess most kids will be waiting for the next exploding car or 15 minute fight scene, which will never happen, just as they never happen so frequently in real life.

I know this film will pass largely unnoticed, which is why I felt obliged to write a review of it. There are those filmgoers out there who still appreciate a good film in its purest form.

For the first time direction, it is not a bad film. The 'Nebraska' writer did his best and I'm totally surprised how this little Canadian gem was not recognised extensively. In fact, it is one of the best films of the year among the PG13 ratings. A drama about a divorced freelance carpenter who babysits his son on a weekend, adventuring the city while preparing for his work on the Monday. When someone stole his tools, they both go after to look who took it and that takes the whole film to cover with some other small events on the side.

Truly a heartwarming drama. You can compare it to films like 'The Pursuit of Happiness', but it had its own way dealing with the story contents. This is not a comedy, but slightly it is fun, as well as inspiring. It narrates the world is full of good and bad, and how we react to them accordingly. Particularly the main character who was desperate to come out of the bad day and to have some quality time with his son. It actually stayed neutral on the topics like theism and atheism, which has some influence in the narration, but revolved carefully around the social and other issues. So that makes there are more things to care about than fighting for nonsenses. That was really a good thing to focus on, maybe that's why I loved it.

The opening and the end take place in the same location, but the difference was the 24 hours and its events. During that time, a boy who was struggling between what his mother believes and his doubts over those beliefs were somewhat influenced to clear his mind. I mean it was not intentional, the film to explain us through the boy, but they were described in the way of someone's daily life base, except it was not an ordinary day for him/them. It was a quite interesting take, and in the current world scenario, this is a wonderful theme for a film which also has high entertainment value.

"Well, I don't know what kind of trouble he can get in in a day."

I don't know the Christian commandment (or any religious's equivalent) that referred in it, especially the meaning of the title, but according to the writer, he wanted to tell what happens if a good behaving young boy breaks all the rule in just one day. Besides, a bit of his own life experience, as well as the outline was inspired by 'Bicycle Thieves'. I don't know how the religious people take it, but I enjoyed it, kind of it is an awareness theme about the reality of the human world. So my disappointment is not the film, but how it was received. Once again an English film from the other region was turned down by the Americans. I hope the rest of the world won't react same way.

It revolved between a father and son characters, so the side contributions were good, but does not require any praise. The Clive Owen, who I consider an ordinary actor was brilliant in this. He is not in any film franchise, especially the current trends superheroes and/or sci-fi, though happy to see him in such a beautiful one-off film. The boy was equally good, especially after the good show from 'St. Vincent', this is his another great character display. Looks like he's going to be a big name in the future.

You can't believe it is just a 2 million dollar film. Great production quality with good performances, a better outcome than usual film with the same production value. From my perspective, it is an underrated film and also an undernoticed film. A fine film for everyone, particularly for the family audience. These are reasons why children as well should watch it, like there are no sexual or drug related material in it. Though the real reason is there are some contents that might help them to understand about such as financially struggling and sober parents, the reality of the society and as a coming-of-age film, it always kept its priorities on the top while narrating the tale, especially from the children's viewpoint.

8/10

At one level The Confirmation (2016) is a simple and endearing story of a young boy spending a weekend bonding with his recovering-alcoholic father. However, the Catholic ritual in the film's title and the church confessionals that bookend the film suggest more serious themes. Although labelled a comedy, the story is really a dramatic portrait of the growing distance between traditional notions of morality and the ethical relativities of today's post-GFC world.

Eight year-old Anthony (Jaeden Lieberher) has not spent much time with his father Walt (Clive Owen) since the divorce, and when mum has a weekend away with her new husband it is a rare chance for father and son to bond. Walt has a lot of issues, including alcohol, unemployment, a foreclosed mortgage and a broken down truck, so the weekend does not look promising for Anthony whose confirmation is only a week away. When thieves steal Walt's specialised hand- made carpenter tools, the pair spend the weekend tracking them down and in the process get to know each other. It is an emotional journey through neighborhoods that have hit hard times and where even thieves are pitiable and forgiven. There are several near-encounters with real danger and scenes of conventional comedy where many conservative parental boundaries are ignored. Through it all, it is a story about an irresponsible loser whose life is being turned around through the emerging relationship with his over-responsible son.

The film starts with an impatient priest urging an innocent child to confess his sins and ends with him amazed at just how many sins can be committed in such a short time. In between, of course, Anthony had a coming of age journey in the real-world. Some may think the narrative unoriginal and the adult-child inversion a predictable cliché. But it does not look or feel like that. It is a heart- warming and tightly scripted two-hander with everything anchored by excellent acting performances that balance emotional insight with a well-paced plot line. Owen plays an unstable but good man, and his performance is pitched at just the right level to be both convincing and likable. However, the real star is Lieberher who authentically plays wise-beyond-his-age innocence and growing understanding of his father. Their synergy together is delightful. The moral of the story is that what priests expect and life delivers are vastly different, and young Anthony has learnt more about human values in a weekend than many learn in a lifetime.