Review: Uncle Frank

Uncle Frank (2020) is an Amazon original drama, written and directed by Alan Ball. Uncle Frank begins with the Bledsoe family reuniting to celebrate the birthday of Bledsoe patriarch Daddy Mac (Stephen Root). We are introduced to the family by Beth Bledsoe (Sophia Lillis). Beth loves her family however, she has a special fondness for her Uncle Frank (Paul Bettany). Frank is sort of the black sheep of the family. Instead of staying in South Carolina like the rest of the family, Frank moved to New York to become a college professor.

While the rest of the family is lukewarm to Frank (especially Daddy Mac, Frank’s father) Beth appreciates his intelligence and free spirit. As Beth is a bit of an intellectual as well, she enjoys Frank’s counsel for he can understand her in a way that the rest of her family just can’t seem to. During the party, Beth and Frank speak openly to each other about Beth’s future. Among other things, Frank urges Beth to go to college out of state. Beth was planning on going to college locally, but has always wanted to see New York. Frank tells her she can go anywhere she wants to go, and she can be anything she wants to be. Beth follows his advice, and becomes a student of the college in NYC at which Frank teaches.

While in college, Beth develops a romance with Bruce (Colton Ryan). Beth and Bruce are both fans of literature. Bruce is surprised to find out Beth is Frank’s niece, and asks her to introduce them. Later on, the two crash a party at Frank’s place. When they arrive they are greeted at the door by Walid (Peter Macdissi). When Beth tells Walid who she is, he reacts with surprising warmth. He hugs her and tells her he has always wanted to meet her. Beth asks who he is, Walid says he is Frank’s roommate. Beth thinks this is odd because as far as she knows, Frank lives with his girlfriend of five years. Walid leaves Beth and Bruce while he goes to find Frank. Bruce leaves Beth with the booze while he too tries to find Frank.

Bruce finds Frank first, on the balcony blazing a doob. Bruce immediately tries to seduce Frank who, while amused, shuts down Bruce’s advances. Rejected, Bruce ditches Beth and splits the party. Beth on the other hand, while left to her own devices, has had one too many martinis. Frank helps Beth to the bathroom, where she vomits. When she inquires about why Bruce left, Frank comes out to Beth.

The next morning Beth has breakfast with Frank and Walid. While Beth and Walid become acquainted, Frank receives a phone call. Daddy Mac has died. Beth and Frank need to return to South Carolina to attend the funeral. Frank wants to book flights, but Beth’s mother Kitty (Judy Greer) wants Beth to take the train. Walid suggests that they take the car and road trip it, this way they can spend some quality time together as well. Frank agrees, and they hit the road.

The road trip begins enjoyably, however neither one of them realizes that this trip is more than just a trip home. This will be a trip into darkness as the death of Daddy Mac sends Frank headlong into a dark night of the soul where he must finally confront his own demons. Secrets are revealed, events of the past unearthed, and skeletons removed from their respective closets, whether or not Frank likes it. What dark secret resides in Frank’s past that he is constantly running from? Will he tell the family that he is gay? How will they react if he does? And why did Daddy Mac hate the birthday gift Frank gave him in the beginning of the film? Gotta watch Uncle Frank to find out.

I must admit, I’m not used to applying my own personal brand of bullshit to films that have the kind of artistic ambitions that Uncle Frank seems to. I’ll try and do it justice, but don’t be upset if I sound like an idiot.

While watching Uncle Frank, I found myself completely engaged, emotionally speaking. The story is competently told, and features some rock solid performances. Paul Bettany is exceptional in this film. Frank’s progression from a reasonably well-adjusted, affable guy, to an utterly destroyed wreck of a human being is remarkably executed. Bettany has almost the entire film to slide from the plateau of success into the pit of despair. As a result, his progression feels completely natural, and it allows the audience to feel everything along with him. He was so good, that I only made one Vision joke at the start of the film. After that, I totally forgot that he was The Vision. In fact, while I do enjoy a number of the MCU films, a performance such as Bettany’s in this film makes The Vision look like a pile of dog shit.

Alright, I apologize. My hyperbolic, dog shit comparison is a little over the top and inaccurate. I’m just trying to be an edgy shitlord. It’s not true. Bettany is perfectly cast as The Vision. It’s just that, while Uncle Frank wasn’t a perfect film, it’s nice to have films that actually want to examine something about the human condition, rather than just have a bunch of overpaid A-listers jerk each other off in front of a green screen, with a bunch of cartoon aliens du juor CGI’d in to make it look like something is actually happening.

Whoa. Okay, I apologize again. This is quickly devolving into a trashing of the MCU rather than a review of Uncle Frank. I don’t want that. I love 75% of the films in the MCU . I’m gonna knock it off now. But yeah, Bettany is devastating. He is the strongest element of the picture, and I am curious if Uncle Frank would have been as successful without him in the role.

There is a thing I’ve found as a longtime lover of cinema. You may have experienced this yourself. Some films are like gateway drugs. There are some films that challenge the status quo a bit. Films that dare to be a little weird, or a little dark, or take on a subject that is taboo, but they don’t push the envelope so hard that they alienate people. But when open-minded people, ones who might have a propensity to become a lover of film, rather than someone who loves going to the movies (if that makes any sense, and not that one is necessarily better than the other, either) are introduced to these films, they can be eye-opening for them.

Films like Army of Darkness (Sam Raimi, 1992), 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957), and Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999) are all these kind of films. You show these flicks to someone who may not be initiated into the ranks of cinephilia yet, but their spirit is ripe and ready, and these kinds of movies will blow their minds. The revelation that film can do more, tell more, show more, take them more places than the standard fare that they are used to, has the power to be life-changing. The deeper you go down the rabbit hole of art, the harder it is to get into whatever exists back up on the surface.

That’s how I got started. It was a process; a journey. I had to have The Black Hole (Gary Nelson, 1979) before I could have 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968). I needed Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990) before I could have Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977). It’s like some films are building blocks or stepping stones to get to the higher levels of cinematic appreciation. Sure you can watch shit in whatever order you like, but I’ve found, sometimes if you are trying to get into something that is more advanced than you are ready for, you might not get as much out of it as you would if you had access to whatever stepping stones lined the path to wherever it is you are stuck.

The point of this long-winded detour is that Uncle Frank is a building block film. A gateway film. Was it good? Absolutely. Did it have a powerful message that was understandably stated and executed in a provocative and moving way? Yes. This is exactly the kind of film I would show to a class of students, or allow my children to watch if they were so inclined. It deals with a serious subject matter in a way that is intended to promote thought and reflection.

However, that is also the element that holds Uncle Frank back. To put it simply, Uncle Frank is a little light to be taken totally seriously. Some of the story elements seem a little too simple, the film is a little one-sided, and challenges are a overcome just a little too easily. I’m not suggesting that Frank’s father is right in his rejection of what he perceives as his son’s sexual aberrance. However, the opposition in this film (for lack of a better term) to Frank’s lifestyle lacks depth. As a result, Uncle Frank isn’t so much an unflinching exploration of a family in turmoil, as it is a feel-good film. And it does feel good. Well, at a certain point. However, it lacks a certain dramatic heft, something it lost a few points for in my book. Uncle Frank is more of an American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999), than it is a Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015).

So there you have it. An incredible standout performance from Paul Bettany, and a brilliant new talent in Sophia Lillis guarantee Uncle Frank doesn’t succumb to saccharine poisoning. It is a touching, well-crafted, somewhat light-hearted, family drama. Uncle Frank comes out around Thanksgiving, which seems like the right time to release a film about family. While not as heavy-hitting as something like A Christmas Tale (Arnaud Desplechin, 2008), it might be just the right combination of serious and sweet for your Thanksgiving weekend. Sort of like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (James Gunn, 2017). That’s a great movie about family as well. A perfect Thanksgiving film that isn’t actually about Thanksgiving but is about what Thanksgiving is actually about.

Uncle Frank drops November 25^th on Amazon Prime.

P.S. Before I let you go, I wanted to acknowledge that when I heard the title Uncle Frank, I thought to myself “a Hellraiser (Clive Barker, 1987) spinoff?” When I found out that this was not the case, the next thing I though of was Pearl Jam. They recorded a song called “Dirty Frank.” They cut the track around the time their first album “Ten” came out. It didn’t make it onto the record, but it made it into my heart. While the song has nothing to do with the film, I couldn’t get the song out of my head while watching Uncle Frank. So here is Pearl Jam playing Dirty Frank for you.

P.P.S. Shut up about The Black Hole! It’s better than you remember.