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There have been a number of high-profile projects directed by actors this year, including the debuts of Bradley Cooper (“A Star is Born”) and Jonah Hill (“Mid90s”), but it is Paul Dano’s breakthrough that has been earning raves ever since it premiered at Sundance. There has been a buzz at Toronto this year about the number of high-profile projects directed by actors. My voice can now be added to that chorus, as I have finally been able to catch up with it in Canada. This is an accomplished and emotionally moving piece of filmmaking, one that shows genuine concern for its characters and has faith in the abilities of its actors. It is rooted in an established tradition of dramatic storytelling, but it is able to strike an emotional chord with viewers thanks to Dano’s sensitive, self-assured performance as well as the contributions of two of the most talented actors of their generation.
It would appear that the Brinsons are a typical middle-class American family. Both Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Jeanne (Carey Mulligan) contribute to the upbringing of their son Joe, who is now 14 years old. Jerry works at a local golf course (Ed Oxenbould). Joe is participating in football, but his primary goal is to make his father happy so that Jeanne can focus on maintaining their new home in Montana. It is the year 1960, and the world is undergoing significant transformations, particularly regarding conceptions of happiness, family, and the roles that men and women play in the home. When Jerry is laid off, Jeanne is able to find work at the YMCA, and Mr. Brinson begins to pull away from the family. We get the impression that Jerry Brinson has been in this situation before, and that he is the kind of man who does not navigate the bumps and curves of life with ease. They just moved here after experiencing difficulties in their previous location, and now their life is once again in a state of disarray as a result of the move. And then Jerry makes the decision to go fight wildfires in a location far enough away from his family that he is effectively abandoning his wife and son. What kind of an answer would you give?
Particularly now that he is observing shifts in his mother’s behavior, Joe pines for the return of his biological father. She changes the way she dresses and the way she carries herself, and soon there is a man (Bill Camp) on the Brinson couch who might be able to offer them things like stability and companionship that they no longer have. It’s hard to fault Jeanne for wanting them, is it? This aspect of Dano and Zoe Kazan’s adaptation of Richard Ford’s novel from 1990, which they wrote together, is one of the things that makes it so brilliant. Jeanne is not your average villain at all. The show “Wildlife” embraces the idea that its characters should be multifaceted and flawed. In point of fact, a significant portion of it focuses on the instant in which we recognize that our parents can be self-centered; after all, you may need to be in order to make it through certain situations. However, one never gets the impression that Dano, Kazan, Gyllenhaal, or Mulligan are passing judgment on others because they understand that there is beauty even in the mistakes that we make in life. It’s one of the things that makes us human.
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In continuation of this theme, Dano gives his characters room to move around and breathe throughout the story. When compared to other movies, Dano’s cast gives more evidence of their acting chops during the film’s quieter sequences. What I mean is that we have a film culture, especially in the United States, that is so dependent on dialogue and motion, but I was struck by the amount of times I caught people in “Wildlife” listening, processing, and realizing—all of those silent, unflashy things that real people do all the time. This is what I mean when I say that our film culture is so dependent on dialogue and motion. Dano is well aware that he is working with an extremely talented cast, and as a result, he follows the practice of many actors who later transition into directing by allowing the audience’s interest to be maintained solely by the plausibility of the characters.
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Having such a talented cast is, without a doubt, a huge asset. Oxenbould is a very talented young man, and Gyllenhaal is typically great in a limited number of scenes, but the movie truly belongs to Mulligan. She hasn’t been this good in a role since she was nominated for an Academy Award for her work in “An Education,” and she’s been very good in roles in between those two nominations as well. She does an excellent job of portraying a woman who is put in an impossible situation and is forced to change her behavior as a result of her husband’s essentially abandoning her. She is not lashing out, which is the typical way that this story would be handled if it were adapted for a film of lower quality, but rather attempting to figure out how to adapt. She has earned everyone’s joy. She is deserving of reliability. And she understands that she may have no choice but to accept it, but “Wildlife” steers clear of all of the melodramatic traps that could have so easily beenfall this story.
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How many times have we seen the alleged “decline of the American dream” portrayed in a manner that felt more like it was making a statement than it was driving the characters? There is a lot to unpack in “Wildlife” about how the world was changing in the ’60s, particularly in its gender roles, but Dano and Kazan always make sure to keep character in the foreground rather than theme. The movie has a lot to say about how the world was changing in its gender roles. They are aware that in order for this film to be successful, the Brinsons must come across as completely three-dimensional and approachable, and it is this focus that propels “Wildlife” to the position of being one of the best dramatic films to premiere at Sundance or TIFF in 2018, as well as any other film that debuted anywhere else in 2018 for that matter.
About the quiz
The 10th of September saw this review being submitted straight from the Toronto International Film Festival.Also, you must try to play this The Wild Life quiz.
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