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THIS IS MY FATHER Send This Review to a Friend
James Caan has as impressive role as Kieran Johnson, a teacher in Chicago who is pretty burned out, and also plagued by a void in his life. He never knew his father. His elderly ill and paralyzed mother can no longer speak. His sister is fed up with her life as a divorcee raising her son, who is in turn fed up with his life and his mother. One day Kieran finds an old photograph that prompts him to go to Ireland to seek information about his father, and his sister persuades him to take his nephew along.
The resulting journey in "This Is My Father" results in new awareness for Kieran, a closer relationship with his nephew, a new outlook for the lad and a richly rewarding film experience for us. The story that evolves in Ireland is a romantic and tragic one that underscores the results of narrow-mindedness and intolerance. Since it's an Irish tale, it has its humorous moments as well, with Stephen Rea providing some of them as a zealous priest.
The film is a labor of love by Aidan Quinn, who plays the father in the flashbacks, Declan Quinn, the cinematographer, and Paul Quinn, director of his first feature. They are brothers and this was an opportunity to join in a family venture that they cared about deeply. Moya Farrelly is attractive and excellent in the role of Kieran's mother as a young woman in love, and John Cusack has a brief but lively role as a solo pilot. Others in the on-target cast include Jacob Tierney, Colm Meaney, Donal Donnelly, and Brendan Gleeson.
Accomplished and engrossing, "This is My Father" shimmers with feeling and glows with emotion and drama. Take a handkerchief or tissue--you won't feel ashamed for needing it. A Sony Pictures Classics release.
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