Being Flynn is Paul Weitz’s most serious film as director. Here he had help from Paul Dano, Robert De Niro, Julianne Moore and Olivia Thirlby. Weitz adapted Nick Flynn’s memoir, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City into a solid emotional screenplay and it is sad that the film didn’t get the recognition it deserved. Dano plays the young aspiring writer, Nick Flynn, on a destructive path towards self discovery. De Niro plays his father, Jonathan Flynn, a writer wannabe who can’t hold down a job. He constantly proclaims: “America has produced only three classic writers – Mark Twain, J.D. Salinger and me. I’m Jonathan Flynn.” He more so resembles Travis Bickle as bigoted taxi driver.
I hope Weitz will continue in this direction. It may be emotionally taxing, but it no doubt would be more rewarding than films as About A Boy, Little Fockers or Down to Earth. Dano plays a writer back to back (his next film is Ruby Sparks) but has done some heavy lifting already with There Will Be Blood and Meek’s Cutoff. De Niro needed a solemn role and hopefully more will follow. For Moore, this never left her wheelhouse and Thirlby is still searching, but on her way to becoming a star.
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RANDOM CINEMA - reel thoughts 