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9

BelousNov 12, 2018

Uncertain. It is the only word that comes to my mind as I try to describe this movie using one word. But it is uncertain not in a bad way, it is uncertain in a very positive way. This flick makes you think deeply about things during itsUncertain. It is the only word that comes to my mind as I try to describe this movie using one word. But it is uncertain not in a bad way, it is uncertain in a very positive way. This flick makes you think deeply about things during its runtime. After moving to the other city not everything for the Brinsons goes smoothly as they would want it. They face the job loss of the head of the family, Jerry, and at the same time his wife, Jannet, finds a new love interest. But the one who suffers most of all is their fourteen year old son Joe. The future of the heroes is very uncertain and this feeling transcends beyond the screen. There is no “black” or “white”, only “grey”. No winners, no losers, only the hurt ones. No wrong, no right, only raw wild humanity.
From a technical point of view I can point out to three things: the acting, the camera work and the soundtrack. Acting of the main actors makes you believe in what you see and feel the emotions of the characters. And here the acting meets the camera work. The movie is full of close ups of characters’ faces, even in the scenes with two or more of them. That gives you a closer look at their eyes and facial expressions which creates tension and depressing atmosphere in some moments. It is one of the camera work methods, another one is the movement of the camera. At first, it doesn’t move at all, there are mainly still shots, but closer to the end the camera starts to shake, letting us know about the unstable situation in the family. I don’t want to say much about the music, it is simply there, creating a very beautiful and sometimes very eloquent background.
It is very difficult to make conclusions about the “uncertainty” of this film. Everything is good about it, you don’t want to nitpick about it, but also you don’t want to talk much about it. It is one of those movies that you recommend to your friends and close ones, and will surely re-watch it yourself one day, but you don’t have any desire to speak up about it. On the other hand, it is the film that you would definitely want to discuss with someone, as the movie doesn’t sort things out by itself, it is left up to the viewer.… Expand

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9

LamontRaymondOct 21, 2018

An outstanding, beautifully-shot film. The acting is a cut above - Mulligan is incredible here, and Bill Camp delivers, as usual. The son - who I've never seen before - is pitch-perfect. I"m sure Dano spent a ton of time with him inAn outstanding, beautifully-shot film. The acting is a cut above - Mulligan is incredible here, and Bill Camp delivers, as usual. The son - who I've never seen before - is pitch-perfect. I"m sure Dano spent a ton of time with him in preparing that performance. I especially enjoy the Montana setting. It's set in 1960, but it feels more like 1940, actually. A different time.… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

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9

GinaKNov 7, 2018

An incredible film by Paul Dano, who, as director, creates a unique atmosphere that enfolds and ensnares the viewer. Although his characters are ordinary and very human, they are also fascinating. Carey Mulligan is incredibly good as aAn incredible film by Paul Dano, who, as director, creates a unique atmosphere that enfolds and ensnares the viewer. Although his characters are ordinary and very human, they are also fascinating. Carey Mulligan is incredibly good as a frustrated woman coping with her husband’s absence. Ed Oxenbould is also excellent as her young son who is both confused and hurt by his parent’s behavior. Jake Gyllenhaal disappears for most of the film, yet he is always a presence.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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7

moviemitch96Nov 12, 2018

This film marked the directorial debut of independent film star Paul Dano, and I must say that he has very natural eye and attention to detail and subtlety with each of his scenes in this film, really showcasing the emotions in each of hisThis film marked the directorial debut of independent film star Paul Dano, and I must say that he has very natural eye and attention to detail and subtlety with each of his scenes in this film, really showcasing the emotions in each of his actors. The film follows a teenage boy coming of age during the 60s in Montana as he finds himself caught between a strained and dwindling relationship between his parents following his father's departure to go off and fight wildfires. The film feels pretty simple and straightforward, but is also quietly heartbreaking at times, offering a raw and honest look at parental and family drama. Carey Mulligan (whom I've always considered to be such an underrated actress) is at a career-best here, and Jake Gyllenhaal is equally as strong alongside her. Overall, it may be relatively simple and small-scale, but the performances make it feel raw and real often enough to make it stand out, even if previous films have covered similar ground relating to family and parental drama.… Expand

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9

DjakeirJan 30, 2019

A very human story with unhumanly skilled actors. The book by Richard Ford was breathtaking and the way Paul Dano was able to take that book and put it on screen as honest and accurate as he did is even more breath taking. This movie isn'tA very human story with unhumanly skilled actors. The book by Richard Ford was breathtaking and the way Paul Dano was able to take that book and put it on screen as honest and accurate as he did is even more breath taking. This movie isn't for the high energy, superheore obsessed as it takes a more heartfelt approach to adult emotion in the framework of a family and a traditonal society. It feels more like an insight into lives you want to study, emotions you want to elaborate on, connections you wish to establish.… Expand

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8

OdinMovieBlogMar 5, 2019

As Paul Dano's directorial debut Wildlife is the story of a middle-class family as it falls apart due to a difficult job environment and family tension. Though the movie is a slow burn there is no denying that the writing and cinematographyAs Paul Dano's directorial debut Wildlife is the story of a middle-class family as it falls apart due to a difficult job environment and family tension. Though the movie is a slow burn there is no denying that the writing and cinematography are able to coincide with the deliberate pacing very well. Though this is a movie I would not likely see again, it is exceptionally made. Solid B… Expand

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7

fredericwoodOct 31, 2018

It's a good debut movie. But it's also boring...rather mundane about the extramarital affair. The excellent acting of the young actor who played the son really saved this movie

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

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7

netflicNov 1, 2018

This movie is an adaptation of a book with the same name, and it describes a family in a small Montana town in 60's.
This is to some degree a coming-of-age story since we see it developing through the eyes of a 14-year-old Joe.
But there isThis movie is an adaptation of a book with the same name, and it describes a family in a small Montana town in 60's.
This is to some degree a coming-of-age story since we see it developing through the eyes of a 14-year-old Joe.
But there is much more to it.
I could see some symbolism: wild fires raging just outside their town also seem to destroy Joe's family.
I am at a loss trying to pinpoint the movie's main idea. Is it a dissolution of a family, or a rather undesirable role of women in the middle of the last century? Is it a noble but often misguided idea of a constant move to new frontiers, small, suffocating towns, leaving behind support system and the familiarity of established life while searching for meaning of life? It's probably all of it, in its complex intermingling.

Excellent performances from all protagonists.
The film is not perfect though. Maybe because it is after a book but there are several ends not tied in the script, and it feels not enough edited.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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5

pomattovichOct 19, 2018

Paul Dano’s directorial debut looks beautiful, has a typically excellent performance from Carrie Mulligan, and has a story that feel like Philip Roth without the Judaism. But I don’t think the prose of the book translate all that well to thisPaul Dano’s directorial debut looks beautiful, has a typically excellent performance from Carrie Mulligan, and has a story that feel like Philip Roth without the Judaism. But I don’t think the prose of the book translate all that well to this internalized story. What I'm sure is richly descriptive in the book feels repetitive and tedious here. Mulligan is great but feels like a supporting character in her own story, constantly disappearing behind closed doors while we stay with the gaze of her son and his reaction shots. There's a rather dramatically moving story here, but too much of it happens offscreen. I should acknowledge that I seem to be in the minority on this. The audience at the screening was rapturous. I was disappointed.… Expand

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4

GreatMartinNov 13, 2018

Every year I see 2-3 movies that I have been suckered into whether because of word of mouth or a performance is hailed or it just sounds like something I would be interested in and then I come home to read the critics so I can find out what IEvery year I see 2-3 movies that I have been suckered into whether because of word of mouth or a performance is hailed or it just sounds like something I would be interested in and then I come home to read the critics so I can find out what I saw and/or missed. “Wildlife” is such a film.

I am a huge fan of Jake Gyllenhaal which is one of the reasons I came to see this film and though he is perfect in his role sadly he is missing from the middle of the movie. He, Jerry, is the husband of Jeanette, played by Carey Mulligan, and they are the parents of 14 year old Joe, played by Ed Oxenbould.

We, along with Joe watch the marriage fall apart, seeing, and hearing, things a teenage boy shouldn’t have to understand at that age. The family lives in Grand Falls, Montana, with Jerry having lost his job and, in desperation, not understanding where he belongs in his life, runs off to fight fires for a dollar an hour.

It’s 1960 and Jeanette, after years of feeling dissatisfied, finds herself lost and acts out in ways that are harmful to her son though through his passivity it is almost as if he is a reporter telling a story about people he doesn’t know and the three, including him, don’t know who they or each are.

Douglas Sirk, a very successful director from the 1950s and 1960s would have made a very dramatic, 4 hankie picture out of this story but the director here, Paul Dano, just tells the story that he and Zoe Kazan wrote letting the actors do their job.

Gyllenhaal does such a good job that when he is off screen, for most of the center of the film, you feel his presence. Carey Mulligan has all the ‘showy’ scenes and is getting a lot of raves but to me she is more bipolar than a woman going through a crisis which I think may be the reason this film doesn’t work for me. Ed Oxenbould’s 14 year old, in his silence and facial expressions, really is the glue that holds this film together especially when he realizes that his parents are human beings and have faults.

“Wildlife”, with some beautiful mountain scenery, is an okay picture though nothing special.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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4

FadeBlackFeb 17, 2021

Despite the great acting and cinematography, I found the story and plot almost painfully formulaic, and to be honest a bit shallow at the end. It felt that it said nothing, achieved nothing. I think Paul Dano can expand his ambitions a bit.

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6

LegendaryLassJan 6, 2019

The events of the film leave the viewers in the dark much as the parents' actions leave the son in the dark. A fairly well-told tale of a family falling apart but by the time you leave the theater you wonder why you bothered to watch at all.

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6

TVJerryNov 12, 2018

Paul Dano was 16 when he started his career as a film actor. This is his first directorial effort, which interestingly revolves around a 14 year old boy. Ed Oxenbould mostly maintains a poker face, while he watches his parents' marriagePaul Dano was 16 when he started his career as a film actor. This is his first directorial effort, which interestingly revolves around a 14 year old boy. Ed Oxenbould mostly maintains a poker face, while he watches his parents' marriage disintegrate. As his father, Jake Gyllenhall handles the affection and anger well, but it's Carey Mulligan's mother who gets to go off the rails in seemingly unrealistic directions. This is more a character study than an involving drama. Watching it develop (or crumble) keeps it from being boring, but the slow-going script and the son's subdued reactions never build to a fulfilling outcome. The restrained art direction nicely captures the early '60s period.… Expand

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8

DeanomiteDec 31, 2019

A well photographed movie that looks good is always a treat. A well written movie with some psychology and solid acting also helps. Carey Mulligan (Drive was her best, Inside Llewyn Davis) trying to redefine herself after realizing she hasA well photographed movie that looks good is always a treat. A well written movie with some psychology and solid acting also helps. Carey Mulligan (Drive was her best, Inside Llewyn Davis) trying to redefine herself after realizing she has outgrown being the wife of a guy who doesn't really identify as her husband anymore is excellent. I am ambivalent on Jake Gyllenhal-he was brilliant in Nightcrawler, Enemy, Jarhead, but usually he just seems like a douchebag. She tries on different personas like she is changing outfits, seeing if she is a marketable commodity or an instructor or an admirer or what not, it's all very well done. This is the first movie i know of written by a couple, and definitely benefits from the perspective of the super charming Zoe Kazan (Buster Scruggs and The Big Sick-Sooooo charming) and her brilliant boyfriend Paul Dano (Escape at Dannemora, There will be Blood and Looper are his best roles). Based on those works I would say she is the stronger writer and he is a better actor but not by much, she acts very memorably. They will be working together again next year as The Riddler and Catwoman, and if this movie is any indication, it will be excellent to see them again. The third act lags when Jake Gyllenhall returns but until then its amazing.… Expand

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7

JLuis_001Jan 7, 2019

This is a film that plays it safe. Never bets on anything risky, neither in the theme nor in the performances.
This is a drama completely in order, as I said safe and certainly maybe quite correct which causes some predictability once theThis is a film that plays it safe. Never bets on anything risky, neither in the theme nor in the performances.
This is a drama completely in order, as I said safe and certainly maybe quite correct which causes some predictability once the story begins to develop, however the quality is elementary when talking about this film, because Paul Dano manages to make a pretty solid work and full of quality in his first film as a director.

I repeat, it never risks anything but that's not a negative thing, I only mention it because the film feels and is evidently made with that tone. However, it's a pretty elegant and very well done drama.
The narrative rhythm is not always the best, but the script and the main characters are excellent. Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan have no complaints from me.

In a way making a small comparison, Wildlife reminds me of Revolutionary Road. A marriage that crumbles before our eyes, however Wildlife is not anywhere near as dark, pessimistic and depressing as Sam Mendes film but they would definitely made a hell of a couple in a double feature.… Expand

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7

amheretojudgeJan 1, 2019

More Pepper. Less Spicy.

Wildlife Dano's marital advice that keeps poking us until we nod in disbelief or belief, against all odds, works with good score. Without any quirkiness- as the films with such genre usually does- Dano has hisMore Pepper. Less Spicy.

Wildlife

Dano's marital advice that keeps poking us until we nod in disbelief or belief, against all odds, works with good score. Without any quirkiness- as the films with such genre usually does- Dano has his vision sharp enough to cut through all the boredom or complaints there ever might be. And the credit has to and does go to Kazan and Dano himself, whose absorbing adaptation offers enough argument to relate to this flawed yet illuminating family.

More to it, the conversations no matter how pragmatic and cinematic, the awkward silence and the stillness pitched for a jarring effect, leaves the audience in awe of it. For obvious reasons, performance factors majorly especially a script written that speaks more from character's perspective. And to be honest, Gyllenhaal seems to feel short handed on filling these empty voids compared to Mulligan. Mulligan, the real deal of the film, the breadwinner of the family, has done a marvelous work on pulling off such a repellant character.

In Gyllenhaal's defense, he too has managed to stay on ground in his eerily not-so-likeable character. But this has always been Mulligan's game, since the first touch. From her make believe attitude to a self obsessed persona, she is offered an immense amount of room to flaunt in her skills which she delivers with a broad scary smile on the face. And stretching her muscles like never before, she can easily be the friendly guardian and the bitter taunting figure that never sees past herself. On the other hand, Gyllenhaal feels more comfortable in his initial stages where the gullible nature of his is cloaked aptly, but when it comes to scratch-to-hurt on screen, he fumbles in front of Mulligan's behemoth scary stature.

Oxenbould bodes well as the audience of this melodramatic act staged by his parents, figuring out the trajectory like us, he is convincingly good on his role of the bridge between this opposite natured stations. The film comes alive after the first act passes by, when Mulligan takes charge on the world with shady seducing intentions of attracting the glossier and flashier city in her life. Wisely, Dano never fabricates the mistakes as a pity on screen, his job to state the figures and facts is what keeps the tale perfectly balanced. The race to win, that our characters sprints for is certainly not against each other but the time itself.

Even though the tale is narrated through their kid, their nature to live once more without any strings is a brilliant idea to leave our host hanging in the mid-air along with our jaws dropped. The detour that the film takes by imputing a love interest from Mulligan could have easily gone wrong as an overstretched routine, but with a crisp tensed environment offered to it with a sense of uncertainty, leaves us wanting for more of the thrill. Dano's world is mundane but lopping off the manners, his arrogance is more than welcome in this Wildlife where the mania of fire is the least of our concerns.… Expand

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9

GrantD243Jan 16, 2019

Paul Dano's directorial debut is downright fantastic. It's beautifully shot and tells an unremarkable, but extremely relatable, tale about a family living in the 1960s. Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan acted their butts off in this one.

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7

Bertaut1Nov 15, 2018

Old-fashioned filmmaking with a progressive theme

The directorial debut of actor Paul Dano, Wildlife is based on the 1990 novel by Richard Ford, and is written for the screen by Dano and Zoe Kazan. Looking at the implosion of a family,Old-fashioned filmmaking with a progressive theme

The directorial debut of actor Paul Dano, Wildlife is based on the 1990 novel by Richard Ford, and is written for the screen by Dano and Zoe Kazan. Looking at the implosion of a family, although Wildlife is a piece of remarkably nostalgic filmmaking, it tells a somewhat progressive story, demonstrating the uncertainty with which second-wave feminism initially manifested itself at grassroots level. Although it's essentially a character study, the film also suggests the 1950s way of life, built around the perfect nuclear family wherein a wife must be subservient to her husband, is about to change.

Set in Great Falls, Montana in 1960, the film tells the story of the peripatetic Brinson family; Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal), Jeannette (Carey Mulligan), and 14-year-old Joe (Ed Oxenbould). When Jerry loses his job and takes off in a misguided attempt to reaffirm his masculinity by fighting a forest fire, something is awoken in Jeanette, who, for the first time, admits to herself that she has become deeply unhappy. Overnight, her behaviour changes dramatically, as she rebels against her domesticity, determined to forge a new identity. Importantly, the film is set three years prior to Betty Friedan's ground-breaking The Feminine Mystique (1963), which redefined the parameters of all gender-based topics. Initially, Jeanette is depicted as a quintessential 1950s wife and mother; she cooks, cleans, washes the clothes, does the dishes, sees that Joe attend to his homework, and when Jerry loses his job, it is Jeanette who goes out looking for work for both of them. She knows that her role in this patriarchal society is to hold the family together, but it's a role that's nothing like she thought it would be. Although she and Jerry seem to love one another, or they certainly used to, she feels trapped by her domestic situation. Making a conscious decision to stop performing the role delegated by men, just as many of the female population of the western hemisphere would be asking over the next ten years, she wants to know, "is this all there is?" In this sense, she recalls Nora Helmer from Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House (1879) or any number of Tennessee Williams heroines - a woman who wakes up to find she has become deeply unhappy despite attaining everything she once wanted.

Dano's directorial work is subtle yet sophisticated. For example, on occasion he has characters walk off-screen to speak, whilst keeping the camera trained on Joe as he tries to listen, with the dialogue barely perceptible from just off the edge of the frame. As well as being an excellent use of off-screen space, something you don't see too often, this technique ties us rigidly to Joe's POV early on. Another very nice piece of direction is an early montage cutting between Jeanette riding her bike, Jerry driving the car, and Joe riding the bus, in which each character is facing a different direction, each in isolation from the others. It's basic cinematic shorthand, showing instead of telling, but it's very well done.

The acting, as you would expect, is universally superb. On paper, Jeanette and Warren Miller (a superb Bill Camp), an older man who becomes romantically interested in her, are very much the villains of the piece, but Mulligan and Camp's performances are so full of warmth that you can't look at them as antagonists. When she starts drunkenly dancing with Joe at Miller's house, the scene is deeply uncomfortable, but Mulligan's performance is such that we don't condemn her, at least, not completely. She never allows the audience to lose sight of the fact that although she is behaving rather poorly, she is a prisoner reacting against her confinement.

Of course, there are a few problems. Essentially a tale of marital angst, the narrative is not especially original - we've seen this story before, and for all the craft on display, Dano never really manages to say anything new Additionally, his measured direction is also too good in places - everything is so ordered, neat, and trim, that at times, the milieu doesn't seem lived-in, but more an abstract concept of what the period was like.

On the one hand, Wildlife is about how society was changing in 1960, and on the other, about how that change manifests itself within the Brinson family. Yes, it's another "death of the American dream" story in a long line of such films, but here, the focus is, for the most part, on character rather than theme, with Jeanette functioning in kind of a synecdochical manner; our specific entry point, she is the individual that facilitates an examination of the masses. And yes, Dano may take his eye off the ball a couple of times, with a somewhat too picture-postcard perfection, but all in all, this is an excellent directorial debut.… Expand

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8

m15964Apr 9, 2019

What happens to a woman that had a lot of experience in poverty and pain. If you left her alone alongside a boy 14 years old, she would absolutely got insane and destroy all precious things. MUST SEE!

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8

qbaseSep 14, 2019

To Wildlife είναι μια προσεγμένη και απλή παραγωγή και γενικότερα υπάρχει μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον στον τρόπο που κυλάει στο σύνολο της η ταινία, ενώ όσο περνάει η ώρα εξελίσσεται με έναν ιδιαίτερο τρόπο.To Wildlife είναι μια προσεγμένη και απλή παραγωγή και γενικότερα υπάρχει μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον στον τρόπο που κυλάει στο σύνολο της η ταινία, ενώ όσο περνάει η ώρα εξελίσσεται με έναν ιδιαίτερο τρόπο.

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3

Mauro_LanariSep 22, 2019

(Mauro Lanari)
"Don't believe the hype", the correct mantra of our time
Paul Dano assembles any flaw of an indie work: the pauperism, the fresco of Yankee existence reduced to a serial copy of "American Gothic", the subjection to the French(Mauro Lanari)
"Don't believe the hype", the correct mantra of our time
Paul Dano assembles any flaw of an indie work: the pauperism, the fresco of Yankee existence reduced to a serial copy of "American Gothic", the subjection to the French cinema (like the first Spike Lee or the mumblecore), especially towards the poetics of Truffaut's debut (with a camera-car that follows the escape of the young protagonist harassed by his family) and the fixed and empty shots of Bresson. Again, better the originals.… Expand

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6

DawdlingPoetNov 27, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a slow family based drama film set in the 1960s. Its very slow, plot wise but it seems clear early on that there are things going on which we're not necessarily fully aware of and so that kept me curious enough to keep watching - that and the 1960s setting, the fashions etc. Its very much a film about marriage, family life and trust; with the focus being on the son and his mother. If it was set in modern day and about an average family, I maybe wouldn't be quite so interested to keep watching but I found it a fairly light and easy watch regardless. I liked the sense that the viewer was about to uncover something fairly big at any moment. I wasn't surprised the son was concerned and doubtful about things relating to his father.

I could tell quite early on that this was a book adaptation and indeed it is, its based on the book by Richard Ford. The slow plot development was the main clue, I'd say.

This isn't a film that will appeal to everyone (few do that) but its not bad as a film about a family struggling to do well for themselves and to stay properly together. I won't say anymore so as not to provide any spoilers. I'm not sure I'd especially recommend this as such unless your already keen to see it, as it is quite slow and may bore some people but for what it is, its not too bad.… Expand

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9

Dan_BJan 10, 2021

Español/ English

Abstract español Notable opera prima de Paul Dano, Wildlife pinta la crisis de un matrimonio desde el incómodo lugar (por más de una razón) y punto de vista del hijo adolescente de la pareja en un pueblo de Montana en 1960,Español/ English

Abstract español
Notable opera prima de Paul Dano, Wildlife pinta la crisis de un matrimonio desde el incómodo lugar (por más de una razón) y punto de vista del hijo adolescente de la pareja en un pueblo de Montana en 1960, en una historia para nada previsible.

La película demuestra cómo con sobriedad, diálogos escasos y precisos y elocuencia en las imágenes se puede pintar con sensibilidad la disolución de un matrimonio, ubicándose en las antípodas de la estridente y sobrecargada Historia de un matrimonio. Y, por supuesto, con grandes actuaciones, sobresaliendo la del joven Ed Oxenbould y sobre todo la de una increíble Carey Mulligan.

English Abstract
Remarkable opera prima of Paul Dano, Wildlife paints the crisis of a marriage from the uncomfortable place (for more than one reason) and the point of view of the couple's teenage son in a Montana town in 1960, in an unpredictable story.

The film demonstrates how with sobriety, few and precise dialogues and eloquence in the images, the dissolution of a marriage can be sensitively depicted, placing it at the opposite end of the strident and overloaded Story of a Marriage. And, of course, with great performances, standing out that of the young Ed Oxenbould and especially that of an incredible Carey Mulligan.

Reseña Español
Corre 1960. Jeanette y Jerry (Carey Mulligan y Jake Gyllenhaal) y su hijo adolescente Joe (Ed Oxenbould) viven apaciblemente desde hace poco tiempo en un pueblo de Montana. El padre trabaja en un club de golf y la madre, ex maestra, cumple el rol de ama de casa. Pero súbitamente, Jerry es despedido de su trabajo, lo que precipita un crisis matrimonial y familiar.

Así expuesta, parece una historia convencional y demasiado transitada. Pero esta ejemplar opera prima del también actor Paul Dano es cualquier cosa menos previsible, en primer lugar, por el incómodo lugar que le asigna a Joe en el desarrollo de la historia.

La fluidez de la narración es perfecta y se desenvuelve con igual solvencia en las escenas en espacios cerrados, con varios planos fijos, como en las bellas imágenes en exteriores, con escenarios que siempre tiene sentido dramático. Es notable también el uso de las elipsis.

A pesar de estar basada en la novela Incendios de Richard Ford (narrada en primera persona, la del entrañable Joe, desde cuyo punto de vista también se desarrolla la película) por suerte Wildlife (vida silvestre) nos evita al narrador en off, ya que basta con ver el expresivo rostro de Ed Oxenbould para entender sus sentimientos.

Pero es Carey Mulligan, cuya Jeanette es el verdadero motor de la historia, la que nos brinda una actuación extraordinaria que desarrolla de maravilla la evolución de su personaje.

Paul Dano y su guionista Zoe Kazan (también notable actriz que vimos en The Plot Against America) demuestran cómo con sobriedad, diálogos escasos y precisos y elocuencia en las imágenes se puede pintar con sensibilidad la disolución de un matrimonio, ubicándose en las antípodas de la estridente y sobrecargada Historia de un matrimonio.

English Review
It's 1960. Jeanette and Jerry (Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal) and their teenage son Joe (Ed Oxenbould) have recently lived peacefully in a Montana town. The father works at a golf club and the mother, a former teacher, plays the role of housewife. But suddenly, Jerry is fired from his job, precipitating a marriage and family crisis.

Thus put, it seems like a conventional and over-traveled story. But this exemplary opera prima by fellow actor Paul Dano is anything but predictable, in the first place, because of the uncomfortable place it assigns to Joe in the development of the story.

The fluidity of the narration is perfect and it unfolds with equal reliability in the scenes in closed spaces, with several fixed planes, as in the beautiful outdoor images, with scenarios that always make dramatic sense. The use of ellipsis is also notable.

Despite being based on the novel Fires by Richard Ford (narrated in the first person, that of the endearing Joe, from whose point of view the film is also developed) luckily Wildlife avoids the narrator in off, since it is enough to see the Ed Oxenbould's expressive face to understand his feelings.

But it is Carey Mulligan, whose Jeanette is the true engine of the story, who gives us an extraordinary performance that beautifully develops the evolution of her character.

Paul Dano and his screenwriter Zoe Kazan (also a notable actress that we saw in The Plot Against America) demonstrate how with sobriety, few and precise dialogues and eloquence in the images, the dissolution of a marriage can be depicted, placing itself at the antipodes of the strident and overloaded Story of a Marriage.… Expand

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8

LeonVitaliNov 4, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After terrorizing viewers with "Prisoners", impersonating
as childish as maniacal Alex Jones, having exemplified racism the most
perverse in "12 Years a Slave", in the character of John Tibeats, and being
was one of the most mysterious guys in independent cinema in “Little
Miss Sunshine ”, Paul Dano returns to cinema, this time behind the
camera, presenting this 2018 film, “Wildlife,” at Sundance
Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival and the Toronto International Film
Festival.
We are faced with a film that transports us in the most intimate way
possible within the Brinson family, consisting of his father, Jerry (per
the nostalgic Donnie Darko), his wife Jeanette (we remember her above all
for Michael Fassbender's disturbed sister in Steve's “Shame”
McQueen), and little son Joe, aka Ed Oxenbould (remember his
first appearance in Shyamalan's found footage film, “The Visit”).
We are in Montana, around the 60s: it will be the dismissal of the father
of Jerry family, which will lead to a series of events culminating with true and
own tragedy, which will disguise itself in the final desperate smiles of the characters.
Carey Mulligan plays a character perfectly initially
so strong but subsequently unstable, that it will be subject to a
backward path towards immaturity, to cope psychologically
the temporary abandonment of her husband from the family home.
Jake Gyllehnall always amazes: with his schizophrenic eyes from father in
prey to the blackest crisis and protagonist of the collapse of the American dream, sino
to the senseless laughter, a further symptom of the crisis, portraying
perfectly the average American, who feels emptied of all values, a
a bit like Leonardo Di Caprio in Sam's “Revolutionary Road”
Mendes.
Ed Oxenbould is capable: he acts without going over the top; a launch of
career that from Shyamalan continues to this day, but which he has not yet found
his truly memorable role.
The direction is very good, clean and very promising for the debut:
very appreciated the measured use of panning, intimate and provocative, and capable
also this precise focus on the faces of the actors, which leads to
physically and conceptually blur the landscape on their back: in
various scenes the latter is almost the real protagonist, which
it unites, in the case of the family home, and divides the characters, as in
case of the burning forest.
The soundtrack, albeit timid, also proves capable and
engaging, intimate and graceful.
So Paul Dano, winking at Mike Leigh's "Secrets and Lies"
(Palme d'Or 1996 and Best Actress to Brenda Blethyn, also in Cannes),
gives us a sentimental portrait of a family in complete disintegration:
the last shot then, which when viewed with an open heart, gives chills
pure, culminating with the countdown of the little son, who desperate,
tries to block the moment of brief joy and family conjunction: they
they observe in the car, the viewer looks back, and the catharsis
happens in the most satisfactory way possible.… Expand

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7

DunkaccinoAug 30, 2023

I was into this family drama crossed with a coming-of-age story, though the former is definitely superior. Not that Ed Oxenbould isn't a fantastic actor---he can be, but there are some moments here that we didn't need to see from his point of view.

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