Uncle Frank

There's been quite a few moments of physical brutality in the films of 2020. That warehouse infiltration from The Eight Hundred, the gory explosions of Spontaneous, the castrations from The Devil All The Time, THAT final scene from Unhinged but none of them compare to a moment of psychological brutality let loose during a will reading in Uncle Frank. It's vicious. The kind of thing that would stick with you for an age.

New York City. 1973. Young Beth Bledsoe (Sophia Lillis) has just moved from South Carolina to New York City to go to college in the same school where her uncle Frank (Paul Bettany) teaches. Beth adores Frank as he was the only family member who ever had time for her growing up but she never got to see him that much as he was always ill at ease visiting his hometown. During a party in his apartment she finds out her uncle is gay and living with his boyfriend and she realises that New York City of the early 70's was a lot more accepting of homosexuality than her home in the south. When Frank's father & Beth's grandfather passes away they both decide to take a roadtrip home. One that's made infinitely more difficult for Frank when his Arabic boyfriend Walid (Peter Macdissi) decides to invite himself along.

Even if you didn't realise Uncle Frank was written and directed by Alan Ball you'd recognise his fingerprints all over it, especially if you'd watched his TV series Six Feet Under. It's full of well drawn characters, that warm chemistry between them he was always so good at creating but also the jagged viciousness that comes way too easily between family members too. Ball has always had a way with looking past those American white picket fences into the darkness behind and here he does it again. Uncle Frank goes from light to heavy quickly and it's tough to watch people you've come to care about being treated so horribly. 1973 doesn't seem so long ago but in terms of gay rights it may as well have been aeons ago. Frank in NYC is carefree, happy, relaxed, himself but the closer he gets to home the more that happiness ebbs away, and Bettany nails that sense of fear with Frank tensing up with every mile he travels. Seeing him crumpling into a shadow of himself is tough to take and when we see why it's a shocker.

There's no denying Bettany is good in the part but in 2020 he's an odd choice. A straight actor playing a gay man in a film written and directed by a gay man who's real life partner (Macdissi) is the 3rd lead. Why not hire a gay actor? Is that homophobia that kept Frank in the closet so long still a thing in today's Hollywood? In today's cinema audiences? It's the only the real downside in a heartfelt, well told tale about how secrets can ruin and how hate can kill. It's sounds like a slog but it's humanity keeps it afloat and there's a couple of surprisingly funny moments in it courtesy of Macdissi's Walid and the always fun Steve Zahn who plays Frank's clueless brother. You'd need them.

One thing you'd love to see film makers do in future is learn how to utilise Margo Martindale properly. She's a brilliant actor. One who'd make you beam when she turns up onscreen. She plays Frank's mother Mamma Bledsoe here and embues a tiny part with a huge heart. Someday she'll get the big leading role she deserves. Someday. 

Uncle Frank is streaming online now. If you can get past that one piece of tone deaf casting you'll find a film with plenty to like about it.