Review: Fathers and Daughters

Fathers and Daughters is a standard but undeniably affecting melodrama that follows two stories. The first is that of award-winning author Jake Davis (Russell Crowe), who is mired in grief and guilt following a car accident that left his beloved daughter Katie (Kylie Rogers) motherless.

Jake's trauma is not only emotional, but mental and physical as well. Diagnosed with manic-depressive psychosis, he is also suffering from seizures. Though he worries about leaving Katie so soon after her mother's death, he knows he cannot effectively take care of her unless he himself is taken care of and so he places Katie in the hands of her wealthy aunt Elizabeth (Diane Kruger) and uncle William (Bruce Greenwood) whilst he checks himself into a mental health facility. Seven months later, he returns to retrieve her, their reunion is joyful, and happily ever after seems right around the corner.

Except Elizabeth has other plans. She wants to adopt Katie, reasoning that she and her husband could provide the young girl with a far better life. Jake is naturally unwilling to consider this and does what he can, writing all night, teaching for next to nothing at Katie's expensive school in lieu of her tuition, and ensuring that Katie does not lack for his love. The odds continue stacking up against him. Not only does William have more money than God to keep Jake longed in a prolonged custody battle, but there are still the seizures to contend with.

Fathers and Daughters is a companion piece to director Gabriele Muccino's The Pursuit of Happyness, which featured Will Smith as a down-on-his-luck father valiantly trying to shield his child from the realities of their life. Neither film has a patch on Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful, arguably the ultimate in the extreme lengths a father will go through to ensure his child's innocence, happiness, and well-being. [Of course, mothers have been doing this on-screen since movies began, though their sacrifices tend to be more excoriated rather than applauded.] Crowe is very good as the beleaguered Jake, and he and Rogers have such a warm and lovely rapport that one wishes screenwriter Brad Densch would have abandoned the second narrative altogether.

That story unfolds 25 years later. Katie, now played by Amanda Seyfried, is working on her graduate degree in psychology and training to be a social worker. Sexually forthright, she bristles with fear at the emotionally stable relationship she was found with aspiring novelist Cameron (Aaron Paul). Densch doubles down on the melodrama, especially when the self-proclaimed self-destructive Katie destroys her relationship in the most spectacular fashion. Muccino has never shied away from big emotions - he will yank at the heartstrings when a mere tug will do - and the histrionics are unleashed to maximum effect.

Indeed, Fathers and Daughters makes no pretense about being a glossy, tearjerking soap opera, and that self-awareness allows its two-dimensional characters, platitude-filled dialogue, and dime-store psychology to be viewed with a more forgiving eye.

Fathers and Daughters

Directed by: Gabriele Muccino

Written by: Brad Densch

Starring: Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Aaron Paul, Diane Kruger, Bruce Greenwood, Jane Fonda, Kylie Rogers, Octavia Spencer, Quvenzhané Wallis, Janet McTeer