When Did You Last See You Father? is a sentimental family drama. But the real question to ask about this film is, since when was sentimental a substitute word for boring?
The film stars Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth as Arthur and Blake, a very distant father and son. Opening in the present, we instantly see that Blake does not like his father all that much. However, when Arthur starts slowly dying from cancer, Blake must move back home to help his mom take care of him.
Through a series of flashbacks we get to see Blake as a child and what it was like being his father’s son. All the events that transpire are very trite, predictable and utterly uninteresting. None of the characters are very likeable and it makes it really hard to care about any of what’s happening. Being that the film is based on a book written by the real-life Blake about his real-life father I’d be curious to know how he feels about this bland depiction of this part of his life.
About the only nice thing about this film is that both Firth and Broadbent deliver very solid performances; if you’re a fan of either of these men you’ll at least enjoy the film on that level.
So how does a potentially emotional film with two great actors and should be very relatable fail? It falls one of two people: writer David Nicholls or director Anand Tucker. It’s hard to tell if the script is bad or if it was just poorly adapted, either way the film fails to hit on an emotional level and when that’s really all it has to offer, then it offers nothing.
The film is presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic widescreen and 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Also has French and Spanish subtitles. The film looks really good, it has great cinematography and the colors are very sharp.
Commentary with Director Anand Tucker: Anand Tucker does have a few interesting things about the film making process but it does it in a very dull way. And when he has nothing to say he doesn’t which puts a lot of dead air on the track which is kind of annoying.
Deleted Scenes with optional commentary: (8 min.) Here’s a few scenes that were cut for a reason and as if you couldn’t figure it out the director and one of the producers tell us exactly why they were cut.
Theatrical Trailer
Previews You get trailers for eleven other Sony Pictures releaes.
While I’ve been very harsh on this film, I’m sure there are people out there who will like it, maybe even love it. But the only thing I can be sure about is that this film was not for me and I can’t in good conscious recommend it to anyone for any reason.
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Sony Pictures Classics presents When Did You Last See Your Father?. Directed by Anand Tucker. Starring Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth. Written by David Nicholls. Based on a book by Blake Morrison. Running time: 92 minutes. Rated PG-13 for sexual content, thematic material and brief strong language. Released on DVD: November 11, 2008. Available at Amazon.
