Wildlife (2018)

Wildlife (2018)

A Career Highlight for Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal

8.1

Movie

United States of America
English
Drama
2018
PAUL DANO
Avery Bagenstos, Bill Camp, Blaine Maye
105 min

What it's about

14-year-old Joe is the only child of Jeanette and Jerry — a housewife and a golf pro — in a small town in 1960s Montana. Nearby, an uncontrolled forest fire rages close to the Canadian border, and when Jerry loses his job (and his sense of purpose) he decides to join the cause of fighting the fire, leaving his wife and son to fend for themselves.

The take

A powerful but quiet movie directed by Paul Dano and based on a novel of the same name by Richard Ford. It stars Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal as a couple who move to a new town with their only child during the 1960s. Their relationship transforms after Gyllenhaal's character loses his job as a butler and chooses to leave for a more dangerous profession, firefighting. This movie is about his wife's response to this event and the implications of both parents' behavior on their kid. There are no twists or turns, exciting action or plot; but Wildlife doesn't need any of that. This moving story about a decaying family unit is portrayed in the sadness that comes with such events. The only joy comes from watching the outstanding (but expected) performances of the cast.

Comments

Despite the stellar cast and assured directing, I didn’t think this movie was good. It was so boring. The script was too simple and monotonous.

The parents and the Carey Mulligan/Jake Gyllenhaal duo might seem like they’re at the center of the story, but it’s actually their kid who is. This is usually the case in life, as the kids are the ones who are most impacted, most lost, and the ones who remember the most. This movie puts forward this observation unlike any other divroce movies before it, which again, are about the couple who split up.

I loved how the characters were treated with respect and developed well. The story takes time but it’s a subtle movie. Incredible.

Add a comment

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

City Hunter (2024)

Cool graphics and choreography can’t save this live-action adaptation’s hackneyed story and misogynistic humor

6.7

Problemista (2024)

Dark, weird, poignant, and funny, this debut feature by Los Espookys star Julio Torres is a modern parable of the American Dream

8.6

The Glass Castle (2017)

A disjointed, but still touching, adaptation of the audacious family memoir

6.7

How to Have Sex (2023)

A drunken summer vacation turns melancholy in this sober observation of teenage rites of passage

7.7

Spermworld (2024)

People take family planning into their own hands in this fascinating look into sperm donation online

7.3

Comrades, Almost a Love Story (1996)

Almost Hong Kong natives become almost lovers in this heart stirring romance drama

8.2

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

A star-studded and riveting legal drama with a blockbuster feel.

8.1

River (2023)

A delightful and ultimately life-affirming Japanese time loop comedy clearly made with love

8.8

The Guilty (2018)

A minimalist, razor-sharp thriller that will have you gasping for air.

9.0

Forgotten Love (2023)

The stunning third take of the classic Polish pre-war melodrama

7.7

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2024 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.