(2014) Lullaby DRAMA

Co-produced, written and directed by Andrew Levitas that has inspired rock musician, Jonathan (Garrett Hedlund) returning back home to NYC to see his dad, Robert (Richard Jenkins) who suffering immensely from cancer, deciding to finally pull the plug. He wants to do this, not with his wife (Anne Archer) and son but also with his successful lawyer daughter, Karen (Jessica Brown Findlay) who is attempting to prevent him from what she felt was her dad making an irrational decision. I liked some of the general conversation exchanges between brother and sister, as they put their differences aside.

Trigger Warning(s): Deals with death of parent and children with cancer

With top billing belonging to Amy Adams, the familiar face of Jessica Brown Findlay from Downton Abbey, and a sad topic which seemed like it would lead to a good cry, what other reasons would you need to see the film?

Characters & Story

After leaving New York to pursue music in California, Robert's (Richard Jenkins) son Jonathan (Garrett Hedlund) returns only a day or so before Robert, after 12 years, is ready to die. Something his daughter Karen (Jessica Brown Findlay) refuses to let happen. But, with only a day, or so, until Robert's Dr. (Terrence Howard) is to perform an assisted suicide of sorts, Karen doesn't have much time to convince her dad to stick around much longer.

Praise

The more and more media I watch when it comes to people having cancer, dealing with family members dying, and other similar themes, I must admit I have built a sort of tolerance. Yet, with this film I found myself getting a bit emotional throughout. For while neither of my own parents are sick, nor anyone I personally know, the performances by both Hedlund and Findlay do bring you to that possible point where you realize that the natural way of the world, unfortunately, is for children to bury their parents.

But, it isn't just Hedlund and Findlay, with of course Jenkins being front and center, that get you when watching this film. A side story with Jon dealing with this 17 year old cancer patient named Meredith (Jessica Barden) I think damn near matched the emotional impact of Robert's sickness. Which perhaps is weird to say since Meredith is a stranger to Jon in comparison to his dad, but what Meredith brought to the movie was a more unique, if not rare, angle to dying. For, to my media knowledge, there aren't too many movies or TV shows which focus on kids dying of cancer, and while arguably there is The Fault In Our Stars, I do feel Meredith gave us a more realist depiction of cancer than the optimistic, and arguably romanticized, view The Fault In Our Stars had for most of its movie. In fact, I sort of wish that Jon's sole side story was simply his character developing through hanging around Meredith and his sister more than anything else.

Criticism

Now, being that this film has a depressing subject matter, naturally it feels long. But being that it is nearly 2 hours, it feels so long that honestly I had to walk away sometimes. What doesn't help things though is as much as it was nice to get to know Jon, I felt the addition of Emily (Amy Adams) wasn't fully necessary to the story and could have been cut. For, after watching the film, I think the sole reason she is included is because she a recognizable name and not because her character really adds to the movie. For as Jon's ex she may let us know how bad he is with expressing his emotions, but with his dad dying it does make you wonder why they needed to go into Jon's love life?

Also, I must admit that I felt bored at times when it was just Jon and Robert in a scene together. For while they certainly had chemistry, and issues between them, I just didn't feel that invested in Jon's life overall. Be it because he is a spoiler rich kid who just seemed a tad aimless, or because he seemed only devastated about his dad's death, at first, because he wasn't getting any money. Either way, the only thing which made his character interesting was when he was with the rest of his family, with Meredith, or one of the few scenes he had alone with his sister Karen.

Overall: TV Viewing

This is one of those movies which start off strong, but as time goes on it wears out its welcome to the point you start looking at your watch a bit. For while the story will probably affect you emotionally, especially the one with Meredith, I just felt that after a while there was too much focus on Jon's life and not enough on either Robert's suffering, and decision, or how it affected his wife and daughter. Because of that, I am labeling this as "TV Viewing." For if the film wasn't so damn focused on Jon it could have been "Worth Seeing," but be it that the decision was to make Jon center of the universe, it gave the film a serious flaw.

Collected Quote(s)

"You have to listen, and share, which are two things you suck at. (And) I'm not talking about your bed and your tooth brush. I'm talking about life things, like real things, things that move you, things that make you feel, like a dream or a song." — Lullaby

"Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely." — Lullaby

"I hope some day you become proud of your heritage, that you treat it as a lifeline and not a sentence." — Lullaby

Review: What a touching movie! This deep emotional drama really did touch me and the great performances from the actors, especially Richard Jenkins and the little kids, made this film a joy to watch. Richard Jenkins plays Robert, whose is a successful business man, suffering with terminal cancer. His son, Jonathan (Garrett Hedlund) rushes to be by his bedside but when he arrives at the hospital, his father tells him that he has requested for the machines to be switched off in 48 hours, which have been keeping him alive. Jonathan finds it hard to deal with his decision to end his life and he finds comfort from a young female patient, whilst having a cigarette by the fire escape. He then returns to his father and mother, Rachel (Anne Archer), who also is finding it hard to deal with his decision and when there daughter Karen (Jessica Brown Findlay) arrives, Robert tells them that he has left most of his money to various charities that need it, which doesn't go down to well with Karen and Jonathan. Karen then tells the family that she has taken out an injunction to stop her father from taking his own life and her troubled relationship with her brother, causes them to argue in front of there parents. After a while, the family come together and have a meal in the chapel, we're there mother breaks down because she doesn't know how she's going to live without any money. Jonathan then meets up with his old girlfriend, Emily (Amy Adams), who manages to calm him down and explains to him why there relationship broke down. He also manages to have a decent conversation with his sister and there father tells Karen that he would consider not going ahead with the suicide if she can come out with a good enough reason for him to stay alive. While she is putting together her case, Jonathan helps out the same patient that he had a cigarette with, by taking her to a prom, which the other patients put together in the hospital. He then spends the night with his father and Karen brings her case forward in the morning. Although her case is a good one, Robert still wants to go ahead with the suicide and now that the family have come together as one, they agree to his conditions. Dr. Crier (Terence Howard), turns off the machines with Roberts family by his side and they show there love for there father/husband while he slowly passes away. Emotional! I did shed a tear near the end but watching him in pain was just as bad. The spoilt kids bickering did get on my nerves because they were constantly being really selfish, without thinking about there poor mum who, practically lived in the hospital. Nurse Carrie (Jennifer Hudson), brought some needed wit to the movie and Richard Jenkins stayed upbeat to the end. You do need to be in the right frame of mind to watch the film because it is quite depressing but it's an illness that is affecting many people's life's in day to day life. Anyway, I really enjoyed this movie and I definitely recommend it to people who are into there emotional dramas. Enjoyable!

Round-Up: Garrett Hedlund, 31, first hit the big screen in 2004 in Troy, which isn't a bad way to start your career in cinema and he's also starred in Friday Night Lights, Four Brothers, Eragon, Death Sentence, Tron: Legacy, Country Strong, On The Road, Inside Llewyn Davis and Unbroken. He also plays Hook in the upcoming Pan and he stars alongside Oscar Isaac and Mark Wahlberg  in Mojave so his career has been pretty impressive so far. He did act like a spoilt brat in this movie but once he sorted himself out, he actually didn't turn out to be a bad guy. This is the first movie written and directed by Andrew Levitas, 38, who didn't do a bad job with this delicate subject. He got the most out of the impressive cast and for his first project, he really did show the different sides of how a family dealing with cancer. 

I recommend this movie to people who are into their dramatic movies starring Amy Adams, Richard Jenkins, Terrence Howard, Jennifer Hudson, Garrett Hedlund, Anne Archer and Jessica Brown Findlay. 6/10