Greg is a therapist/social worker, and is very analytical when it comes to everything, especially when it comes to analysing his own son. Alex was a defense attorney, who left the workforce when her son was born.
At some point before the film starts, Alex has had a miscarriage. But now she is pregnant again, and this just escalates everything for her emotionally.
You see, Jake is starting school next year, and finding the right fit for him is not easy. All their friends’ children go to the very best private schools and magnet programs, but Alex and Greg can’t afford that.
Greg is happy for him to go to a public school, as that’s what he did, and he turned out fine. But Alex wants a more tailored experience, with more appropriate class sizes and individualised education.
Not only that, but Jake has his own issues to deal with, and public school just isn’t going to cut it. Jake is not your average five-year-old boy. All he wants to be for Halloween is Rapunzel. For his birthday, he doesn’t care what kind of cake he has, as long as it’s pink and he can wear his favourite skirt without being called a ‘fag’.
Alex’s close friend Judy (Octavia Spencer) works in the education system, and is trying to help Alex make the best possible case for Jake to receive a scholarship to a school where his individuality and gender expression can be nurtured rather than stifled, but after a while, it all just becomes too much.
The screenplay is based on a play by Daniel Pearle, in fact, he adapted his play himself. However, this film doesn’t feel like it is based on a play, in the same way that other films I have reviewed do. Certainly, there are a lot of dialogue-heavy scenes throughout, but when watching the film, you just get so swept up in the moment, you don’t have time to think about that.
I was actually pleasantly surprised to find out it was based on a play, which I only learned when the final credits began to scroll. The action is not all in one location, but moves around quite a bit. I assume it would be different if you were watching it on stage, but as far as I can tell, the dialogue would mostly be the same.
I particularly want to discuss the cinematography here, by Steven Capitano Calitri. The camera, which is hand-held throughout, brings the viewer right into the middle of the action. It almost feels as though we are intruding into the most personal, intimate moments of these characters’ lives, and is at times unsettling, but mostly it is a very clever way to make the film seem more real.
Roger Neill’s score is incredibly unobtrusive, which is good. In fact, it feels as though in the hour and a half that the film goes for, there is perhaps only about four or five minutes where there is music underscoring the scenes, allowing for much more attention on the dialogue and the action.
The performances of the cast are all superb, in particular Claire Danes and Jim Parsons. Parsons’s portrayal of Greg is so incredibly different from anything else he has done before that he is almost unrecognisable. Danes is brilliant as Alex, giving real heart-wrenching emotion to the role, and playing everything with the utmost realism.
Young Leo James Davis is also fantastic in his performance, breathing real life and real conflict into the character of Jake. He plays the role with integrity, and at no point descends into caricature. There are moments where you will almost certainly have tears in your eyes (I know I did) at everything this young kid has to go through.
Director Silas Howard has made such a beautiful piece of cinema here; I look forward to see what he does next. You definitely need to see this film if you haven’t done so already.
9 out of 10.
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