nathansnook

Daddy Longlegs

In all its schizophrenia and ADHD scenescapes, there’s a shot early on of the two sons holding onto the belt loops of their father’s blue jeans that is blown up, leaving no room for wonder, and I think that’s how I’d sum this up. This film leaves no room for wonder. Plenty of praise for the bad dad with gonzo choices, odd dream sequence that felt too grounded in the film’s reality as well as making the sons disappear with a magic trick, actually making them disappear, just to cut to the next scene. You see the beginnings of the brilliance of the Safdie Brothers. Here it is unpolished, messy and drawn out, the ugly brother to Big Daddy (https://letterboxd.com/film/big-daddy/). I’m thinking of the blue jeans again, wanting so much for the scene to be shot wide angle, to see the full frame, walking down the street, a moment less tense, just to be enjoyed. But, alas, that’s all there is, huffs of smoke, an intangibility, brief moments just to be enjoyed. And isn’t that what it’s like to raise a few sons.