Fathers and Sons
Review by Trevor Denning
"Masculine relationship" has gone from a slur to an oxymoron. If there are two men working together on a primetime TV show, how long before they’re bickering like an old married couple? As a means of driving every movie plot, every son in every story has a terrible relationship with every father figure. Tropes on tropes. Creating real conflict, with honest men? That would take real effort, and require knowing some honest men.
Nearly everyone in front of and behind the camera in Fathers and Sons, a short film from director Ryan Curtis, served in the military. I don't have firsthand experience with that kind of brotherhood, but I know men who have. On the surface it’s two old soldiers giving each other crap over a game of pool. There’s no flirting, no bickering, no relationship counselor waiting in the wings to help them get in touch with a feminine side.
Instead, there’s hard liquor, guns, and cussing. What there is not is any machismo. Tom (Michael Broderick) and Del (Tim Abell) are men who saw difficult things when they fought overseas, and they came back both stronger and more aware. Now Tom’s son is serving, and his pride is mixed with a heavy dose of anxiety. He’s not angry that his son decided to follow in his footsteps. Tom doesn’t regret the path he chose or the example he set for his son.
As every soldier I’ve ever known has said, “It is what it is.”
These are heavy and complex topics for a ten minute movie, and it may have been tempting to spell out what’s going on. Fortunately, screenwriter Vernon Mortensen is above taking easy routes, and the actors are up to the task of conveying the meaning behind the words. There’s not a cliche in sight. Just real, honest, relationships.
Everything on the screen works, from the color palate and cinematography, to the editing, and the acting. While the runtime is brief, I feel like I know these characters because I’ve known people like them, respected them, admired them. Here is a world in which I would gladly spend more time. And it’s easy to see how the filmmakers accomplished that in just a few moments. All we need is something admirable, honest, and true.
Tom and Del are dignified men. There’s no hint of any vices or dark shadows on their souls, as we might expect given how men (and more often soldiers) are usually portrayed on screen. Yet there is an honest acknowledgment that life leaves wounds, even if we don’t allow those scars to define us. Finally, there’s the truth that real men give each other crap in the little things, so that they can support them as brothers in the areas that matter.
As viewers, we can appreciate that this is all the film offers. There’s no lesson, no sermon, no deep meaning. When we’re finished watching, we too can say, “It is what it is,” and feel good about it.
