Review of Being Flynn (2012) by Dave J — 27 Jan 2014

Monday, January 27, 2014.

(2012) Being Flynn.

DRAMA.

This film is better watched at home than it to be watched at the theatre since it consists of people we see everyday all the time which is the disgruntled homeless. Co-written and directed by Paul Weitz from the memoirs of Nick Flynn. It stars Paul Dano playing yet again another writer with the other one called "Ruby Sparks"- in this one he plays Nick Flynn the author the movie is based on. The main theme of this film is really about discovering oneself despite discouraging obstacles in regarding the past. And part of Nick's psychological and successful journey is his eventual reunification with his estranged and eccentric dad by the name of Jonathan Flynn who still lives in the past unafraid to show his irrational behaviour. At the beginning, Jonathan (another difficult role played by Robert DeNiro) continues to maintain that he is one of the greatest writers aligning himself with Hemingway and Fitzgerald, but as viewers see he's just like any other delusional writer who imagines himself to be great rather than accepting for who he really is which is basically a nobody who can't seem to finish anything he started. If you haven't come across people who act like him on street corners somewhere along the downtown area or on college/university campuses than that that would mean that you haven't gone out much because I've come across people who act like this all the time where they rave about themselves very highly while holding a bottle of whisky. For, not all homeless people have been abused during their childhoods or are drug addicts, some are egotistical know-it-all's who take great comfort for what they think they have is great no one else doesn't. That is their only salvation and what keeps them going- it's that and whisky. Anyways, Nick is just an ambitious teenager who's struggling for a purpose in his life. While he want to become a writer, he remembers his mom (Julianne Moore) discouraging him to be one because of his delusional dad who was arrested and put in prison for falsifying bad checks. So while Nick remembers this, he then gets himself employed to work for the homeless, and it is there where he meets his dad which could have bring him down further in a downward spiral. The most interesting aspect about this film, is the fact that this film showcases an realistic practice in regarding taking care of the homeless, and to the rules the homeless have to follow upon being in one of those kind of homes for the movie says that they usually don't get any better but they sometimes get worse.

Viewers are not often subjected to this kind of life since we often try to avoid it, and it's comforting to see that not all delusional homeless people are violent but are really misunderstood, that we prefer to see them from a safe distance like from a movie point of view rather than confronting them about their problems ourselves.

3 out of 4 stars.