Category Archives: Child custody

2017, Acceptable for teenagers, Acorn TV, Addiction, Child custody, Drugs, Ends in Cliff Hanger, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Gay theme, Irish, Lawyers, Made For TV, Marital Infidelity, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Orphans in Foster Care, Personal Betrayal, Sex Scenes

Striking Out (2017)

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From Acorn TV:

Tara Rafferty (Amy Huberman, The Clinic) is living the good life: she’s a successful Dublin lawyer engaged to a fellow solicitor. But Tara’s life is turned upside down after she discovers her betrothed in bed with a colleague. Abandoning her wedding plans (and her job), Tara strikes out on her own, starting an unconventional private practice. Hailed as “a roaring success” (Irish Independent), this legal drama charmed audiences across the pond, quickly becoming Ireland’s #1 new drama. Neil Morrissey (Line of Duty, Grantchester, The Night Manager) and Rory Keenan (War & Peace, Peaky Blinders) co-star.

From Acorn TV you can stream the 4 episodes of Season One. Season Two is now in production over the summer of 2017.

Kathy and I could not wait to see each new episode. Along side of the continuing saga of her fiancée  Erik’s betrayal (and the accompanying pressures of both their socially ambitious families), each episode presents a different law Client for Tara. There is absolutely no violence.  Tara gathers around her a really quirky and nice set of characters.

Expect a cliff-hanger ending of episode 4, which clearly means to suggest an oncoming new season.

If you are a “Doc Martin” kind of person, you will enjoy “Striking Out”.

 

2016, Acceptable for teenagers, Basically Sad, Boating, Brother-Brother relations, Child custody, Depression, Drama, Explicit sexual discussion, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Fishing, Netflix DVD, Possibly depressing, Sex Scenes, Teenagers, Uncle-Nephew relations, Violent

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

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From IMDB:

A depressed uncle is asked to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy’s father dies.

Such a sad film from beginning to end.  Just be prepared to get involved in a story that almost certainly cannot have a happy ending. For two hours you will see an emotionally numb Lee Chandler (played well enough by Casey Affleck) trying as best he can to find a solution for his nephew whose father (Lee’s brother) has just died. That problem is made more difficult by the all-around family dysfunction in which marriages have failed such that wives and mothers have moved away from their families.  Patrick, the nephew, is a normal adolescent seemingly more interested in getting laid by his multiple girl friends than in the death of his father. In this regard Lee is very permissive.  In general the relation between Lee and Patrick are begrudgingly positive.

Only when Lee gets drunk and boils over in a bar is there any violence in the film.

See also the Wikipedia article.

For some reason, it was not until the very end of the film that I realized that Lee is clinically depressed (for very legitimate reasons). Forgive my point of view, but couldn’t anyone have stepped in and suggested that Lee get professional help in this regard? But then that would spoil the story.

 

 

2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, Abduction, Acorn TV, Ambiguous Conclusion, Bloody scenes, British Mystery Series, Child custody, Confusing Plot, Could Be Sad, Detective, Divorce, Eccentric Detective, Emotional abuse, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Forensics, Gritty, Lawyers, Made For TV, Murder Investigation, Orphans in Foster Care, Revenge, Spousal Abuse, Suicide, Suspense, TV Series, Violent

Vera (2011)

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From AcornTV:

Two-time Oscar nominee Brenda Blethyn stars as DCI Vera Stanhope a solitary, obsessed, caustic, brilliant investigator, and a bit disheveled; think female Columbo.

From AcornTV you can stream 6 years of this British TV series which first started in 2011 and went on for 7 years through 2017. AcornTV does not offer 2017. Each year, or “set”, consists of 4 episodes. Surely 24 episodes will keep you busy for awhile (binge – anyone ?). Each episode is approximately 1.5 hours.

DCI Vera is as personally distant as her sidekick DS Joe Ashworth (played by David Leon) is personable. An important thread in the series is their relationship. For example, Vera’s refusal in one episode to even consider being the Godmother to Joe’s latest newborn child is really hurtful. But Joe seems to understand her aloofness and accepts it begrudgingly. In one episode Joe insists on taking Vera for a doctor’s visit because of her sudden stress-related faintness.

Just remember that British police procedurals are not for the faint of heart. Could that be why I enjoy them so much?

2016, Acceptable for children, Alcoholism, Amusing banter, Carpentry, Catholic culture, Child custody, Comedy, Divorce, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Feel Good For All, Mother-son relations, Theft

The Confirmation (2016)

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From IMDB:

Eight year old Anthony is somewhat uneasy about spending the weekend with his alcoholic, down-on-his-luck carpenter dad Walt while his mom Bonnie and her new husband Kyle go to a Catholic retreat together. Walt is just as uneasy about spending time with Anthony, especially since their first day together is a series of characteristically unfortunate events, including his truck breaking down, his landlord locking him out of the house, and the theft of his toolbox, which he needs for an upcoming job. As Walt and Anthony set about finding the guy who stole the tools and improvise around their other misfortunes, they begin to discover a true connection with each other, causing Walt to become a better father and Anthony to reveal the promise and potential of the good man he will become.

Clive Owen as Walt the father and  Jaeden Lieberher as Anthony the son are matched perfectly and cleverly. Catholic viewers will get a kick out of Anthony’s two visits to the confessional and its perplexed priest confessor. Especially note the amusing and unending trail of lies that are an important part of the plot.

Sorry, but I do not buy Walt’s quick retreat from alcoholism, even though it contributes to a heart-warming film.

Finally we have here that rarity – a feel-good but not maudlin film for the entire family.

 

 

2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, Basically Sad, Child custody, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Father-son relations, Mental Illness, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Nothing special, TV Series, War Veterans

The Guardian (2001)

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From Netflix:

Nick Fallin is a fallen corporate lawyer who’s working off a drug conviction with 1,500 hours of court-mandated community service, splitting his time between helping kids in trouble and patching up relations with his workaholic father.

Simon Baker for me will always be “The Mentalist” which started airing in 2008. Therefore it is striking to see how much younger he looks in this TV series which aired in 2001 when he was 32 years old. In this series playing Nick Fallin he does not emote much, to say the least.

Each episode has two themes. His position in his father’s law firm is an ongoing theme. Additionally in each episode he tackles the problems of some unfortunate child. More precisely, his community service job requires that in the usual case of several people (parents, grandparents, step-parents) fighting to get custody, he has to try and satisfy the child’s wishes. Every such episode has a sad side and most often NOT a happy ending. Usually some imperfect compromise has to be made at the expense of the child’s true happiness.

Nick’s father Burton Fallin is played by Dabney Coleman whom you may recognize as Commodore Louis Kaestner of the TV series “Boardwalk Empire”.

NetFlix offers this TV series via streaming: Season 1 has 22 episodes, Season 2 has 23 episodes and Season 3 has 22 episodes. Kathy and I find that the more episodes we watch, the more involved we get with Nick’s life. If nothing else this series offers non-violent, intelligent entertainment which at times can be compelling.