A Reckless Abandoned production. Produced by Adrian Grenier, Jonathan L. Davidson, Jim Mol. Directed by Adrian Grenier.
With: Adrian Grenier, Jonathan L. Davidson, Karesse Grenier, John Dunbar, Esther Dunbar, Carl Dunbar, Debbie Dunbar, Bob Sterling, Rich Ferrante, Evan Ferrante, Carrie Emberman.
Young actor Adrien Grenier (seen most recently in James Toback's "Harvard Man") has turned his own real-life quest to become reacquainted with his estranged father into a rambling, often shapeless -- but just as often touching and illuminating -- feature-length docu. A personal musing on the need for fathers on both an individual and societal scale, this modified home movie meanders off into so many different directions it never develops a clear focus. But like a literary first draft, the idea shows promise -- Grenier is definitely on to something -- though structural work is in order before pic will be suited for any kind of distribution.
Grenier begins with a simple impetus that morphs, helter-skelter, into a larger questioning of cultural perceptions of paternal characteristics and responsibilities. What makes a father? Can a mother successfully fill in? After Grenier tracks down his own father, pic evolves into a critical treatise on the residual effects of the free-spirited lifestyles embodied by both of Grenier's parents. It's never less than interesting, but always less than well-organized.
Camera, Ari Gold, Mikey Jackson, Eric Lee; editor, Jim Mol. Reviewed at Tribeca Film Festival -- Intl. Showcase, May 10, 2002. Running time: 87 MIN.
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