69. Daddy Longlegs (Josh and Benny Safdie)
Not the 1955 Fred Astaire movie by a long shot. Done mostly handheld and very New York with Ronald Bronstein as a less than responsible dad who wants to make the two weeks he gets with his two little boys as fun and memorable as possible. But the guy is a mess. I found Bronstein’s own film Frownland, another Brooklyn improv style ‘mumblecorps’ (sort of), enormously unpleasant, but his disarray as an actor and his terrific improv skills work perfectly here.
The film is, as Ray Carney called it, ‘exploratory’. The Safdie brothers are working out issues with their own father on whom this is based. It’s somewhat of a Rorschach test for parenting. Some are really put off by certain behaviors in the dad (myself included) others feel the love this dad has for his boys, and that trumps his irresponsibility. Either way the film sets up a really authentic looking and deeply felt test of audience empathy. It’s a unique, compelling, and accomplished independent film by two very talented brothers.