”Falling” is Viggo Mortensen’s directorial debut, an austere, sometimes rewarding film, which features the absolute worst movie father since James Coburn raised hell in Paul Schrader’s “Affliction.” Drawing on his own upbringing, Mortensen loosely bases “Falling” on the relationship his parents had — toxic alpha father, abiding mother. The highlight of the film is a career-peak performance from Lance Henriksen as Viggo’s on-screen dad, Willis. Shifting back and forth between present day and flashbacks, the toxicity that Willis exudes on screen eventually takes its toll. There’s only so many homophobic, racist, sexist rants one can take, especially in a film such as this one, whose frames are purposely filmed in dull colours to exude on-screen dread. It’s a well-intentioned arthouse character study, but one riddled with puzzling decisions. I would have loved more of the non-linear flashbacks, which better explain the father-son relationship, but we don’t get enough of them, instead we just get toxic rant and after toxic rant from Willis, to the point where enough is enough already. This makes it very difficult to sympathize with Willis when we don’t really know the roots of the hatred indented deep inside of him. Of note, the highlight of the film for me was David Cronenberg’s hilarious cameo as a proctologist.” “Falling” opens in theaters, On Digital, and On-Demand on February 5th via Quiver Distribution. Contribute Hire me
Advertise Donate Team Contact Privacy Policy
