Category Archives: Father-son relations

2005, Acorn TV, British, British school girls, Bullying, DO NOT MISS, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Forensics, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Serial Killer, Suspense, Teenagers, Wrongful Arrest

Like Father Like Son (2005)

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From IMDB:

Life for Dee Stanton is improving at every turn. Her legal career is blossoming and her boyfriend Dominic unexpectedly proposes to her. Things were very different 11 years ago when her husband Paul was jailed for the brutal murders of four girls and Dee was hounded from her home. Dee has kept all this a secret from her 15-year-old son Jamie. Now he has discovered the truth about his father and demands to see him.

From Acorn TV:

Dee Stanton (Jemma Redgrave, Holby City) seems to have a perfect life, with a blossoming career and a handsome fiance (Robson Green, Grantchester). But Dee’s tragic past comes back to haunt her when her son learns his father is a convicted serial killer. After a girl’s murder, Dee fears history is repeating itself. This gripping psychological thriller also stars Tara Fitzgerald (Game of Thrones).

From Acorn TV you can stream the 2 episodes of this British TV drama. Each episode is about 68 minutes long.

When you have such British actors as Jemma Redgrave (who plays Dee Stanton), Robson Green (who plays Dominic) and Phil Davis (who plays the imprisoned father serial killer), you know you are in for a treat.  Although the plot is somewhat like a soap opera, the tension and threat of a wrongful arrest are so strong that it is a blessing that there are only two episodes. Moreover, I would be surprised if you get to the near end and have correctly identified the killer.

For plot surprises and good acting let’s call this a DO NOT MISS!

2017, Adultery, Crude Talk, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Emotional abuse, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Marital Infidelity, Mother-son relations, Nobel Prize, Wonderful acting

The Wife (2017)

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From IMDB:

A wife questions her life choices as she travels to Stockholm with her husband, where he is slated to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Glenn Close’s role as “the wife” has been mentioned in relation to an academy award. Her performance actually gave me gooseflesh. Watching the facial expressions in her beautiful face for an hour and forty minutes was sheer pleasure.

Jonathan Pryce had the dubious success of offering an excellent performance as “the husband”. You have to see the film to understand what I mean. But I will not spoil the plot for you. Jonathan Pryce was familiar to me as, of all things, High Sparrow from “Game of Thrones”.

My heart went out to Max Irons as the suffering “son”.

DO NOT MISS!

2018, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Action Film, Action Hero, Adventure, Amazon Prime, Bloody scenes, Drone warfare, Father-son relations, Germ Warfare, Human trafficking, International thriler, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Revenge, Romance, Sex Scenes, Terrorist Attack, Terrorists, Violent

Jack Ryan (2018)

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From Amazon Prime:

When CIA analyst Jack Ryan stumbles upon a suspicious series of bank transfers his search for answers pulls him from the safety of his desk job and catapults him into a deadly game of cat and mouse throughout Europe and the Middle East, with a rising terrorist figurehead preparing for a massive attack against the US and her allies.

From Amazon Prime you can stream Season 1 of this international terrorist season. Each of the 8 episodes are roughly 45 minutes except for the first pilot episode which is over an hour.

If you like adventure thrillers with a bit of romance thrown in, you will enjoy all the action.  To reach a happy ending Jack Ryan makes some pistol shots that seem downright implausible, but at least those shots reduce the tension.  Congratulations to the film makers for choosing for the lead role John Krasinski (“who?”) who is anything but the usual Hollywood-handsome type of actor.

Sometimes I worry that the elaborate terrorist plots and devices will motivate real terrorist to use the same methods.

Bets are you will binge-watch this series. Let’s hope there are more seasons.

2018, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Accidental Death, Addiction, African American centered, Basically Sad, Bloody scenes, Could Be Hard To Watch, Cynical, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Forensics, Gay theme, Gritty, Mildly Violent, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Trial, Netflix Streaming, Personal Betrayal, Pessimistic, Police Corruption, Police Culture, Racism, Religious Theme, Spousal Abuse, Suspense, Trial Scenes, Upsetting ending

Seven Seconds (2018)

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From IMDB:

Tensions run high between African American citizens and Caucasian cops in Jersey City when a teenage African American boy is critically injured by a cop.

From Netflix you can stream this 10 episode series. Each episode is about an hour except the final episode is 80 minutes.

In the very beginning we see Officer Peter Jablonski accidentally run down a black boy Brenton who was riding his bicycle through the park on a snowy day. Immediately his corrupt white police buddies convince him to hide the crime as they drag the living boy to a ditch and leave him to bleed out over 12 hours. All ten very tense episodes relate the effort by a black female Assistant DA named KJ Harper and a white policeman  Joe ‘Fish’ Rinaldi to seek justice. Along the way we spend time with each member of Brenton’s family and the police families as their lives are sadly changed by the killing.  If there is a theme here, it is “Black Lives Should Matter” even if, sadly, black lives do not matter.

Acting is superb. None of the actors were familiar to me. Even the villains stand out as especially heinous, especially the unscrupulous white woman who defends the police.

For me much of the tension was getting to the end to see how the trial turns out.  Enjoy the gripping ride while you predict what a realistic ending would be.

DO NOT MISS!

 

 

 

2015, Abortion, Acceptable Trash, Adultery, B-movie, British, Crude Talk, Divorce, Drama, Explicit sex, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Jealousy, Made For TV, Marital Infidelity, Medical Theme, Melodrama, Middle school students, Mostly About Sex, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Personal Betrayal, Revenge, School Teacher, Self-Deception, Sex Scenes, Sexual Tension, Suicide, Teenagers

Doctor Foster (2015)

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From IMDB:

A woman suspects her husband of having an affair. After following several lines of inquiry far more unravels including a streak of violence below the surface

From Netflix you can stream two seasons of this BBC soap opera. Each season consists of 5 episodes. At this point (July 2018) it is uncertain as to whether there will be a third season, even though the ending of season two cries for a continuation of the story.

Make no mistake, these 10 episodes comprise nothing better than a sex-and-revenge fueled soap opera. Nonetheless, yours truly binged frantically from episode to episode long after my wife lost interest in “pure tripe.”  But I have never been ashamed to admit that “I Love Trash!”

If you watch much British TV, then many of the actors will be familiar faces.  Most probably you may recognize Suranne Jones, who plays the lead role as Dr. Gemma Foster, as one of the team of women police detectives in “Scott & Bailey” (which I heartily recommend).

If for no other reason than to enjoy watching one of the best revenge dinners I have ever seen, put this potboiler on your list of guilty pleasures.

2017, Abduction, Acceptable for teenagers, Acorn TV, Ambiguous Conclusion, Brother-Sister relations, Complicated, Confusing Plot, Corruption, Courtroom scenes, Detective, Drug Dealers, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Financial malfeasance, Illegitimate Child, Lawyers, Marital Infidelity, Missing Person, Mother-daughter relations, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Revenge, Romance, Small Town, Violent, Wales, Welsh detectives

Keeping Faith (2017)

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From Acorn TV:

Fun-loving Faith Howells is drawn into a mystery when her husband and business partner Evan (Bradley Freegard, EastEnders) disappears. He leaves for work, but never arrives. His sudden absence strikes deep into the heart of this tiny Welsh community and forces Faith to come back from extended maternity leave to defend a hopeless vagrant on shoplifting charges. As increasingly-desperate Faith searches for clues, she discovers new revelations about Evan’s private life and questions how well she really knows the man she loves. Also starring Hannah Daniel (Hinterland), Matthew Gravelle (Broadchurch), Mark Lewis Jones (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), and Aneirin Hughes (Hinterland).

From Acorn TV you can stream the 8 one-hour episodes of the only season offered.

“Mounting Frustration” best describes the progress of the series. Just when you think things could not get any worse for poor besieged Faith, they get much worse. Finally Kathy and I arrived at the eighth and last episode only to be rewarded with an ambiguous somewhat happy ending, which seems to beg for another season.

Too much time is spent in long-held motionless poses where we watch Faith suffer. Could the villainess be any nastier?  As plots go, this one is fairly complicated.

Just don’t expect justice to be served perfectly, and for all the heroes to live happily ever after.

2017, Abuse of Women, Addiction, American Indian culture, Bloody scenes, Could Be Hard To Watch, Disturbing Image, Father-son relations, Grim, Murder, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Rape, Revenge, Violent

Wind River (2017)

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From IMDB:

A veteran tracker with the Fish and Wildlife Service helps to investigate the murder of a young Native American woman, and uses the case as a means of seeking redemption for an earlier act of irresponsibility which ended in tragedy.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 47 minute full feature length film starring Jeremy Renner.

Although the scenery in all its wildness is breathtaking (and beautifully photographed), after watching this film I have decided that you could not pay me to step foot in central Wyoming. Perhaps I got the wrong impression.

Quite simply the story is about the brutal rape of a young American Indian woman and the murder of both her and her white American boyfriend and how this crime is avenged. When I say brutal, be warned: there is some nasty violence portrayed.

Jeremy Renner teams his persona as a tracker with that of a young urban FBI agent Jane Banner played by Elizabeth Olsen.  He is on the side of the law of the land whereas she tries to uphold the rules of the FBI. She has no clue about the wilderness, so to honor his Indian friend and father of the victim, he volunteers to help her while making it clear he follows his own rules.

Expect some ugly violence, much death, and a very fitting revenge. Not for the faint of heart.

2017, Acceptable for teenagers, Airline pilot, Boating, British History, Docudrama, Father-son relations, French Soldiers, Grim, Human spirit, Mental Illness, Military, Navy, Sea Rescue, Suspense, True Story, War

Dunkirk (2017)

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From IMDB:

Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire and France are surrounded by the German Army, and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II.

British Airways offered this film along with subtitles.

Dunkirk is famous for the heroism of the small British boats that came to the rescue of the surrounded allied soldiers. In this regard I hope you can someday read the beautiful short story “The Snow Goose”.

HOWEVER, this particular film, far from any romanticizing, shows all the horror and death associated with the Dunkirk rescue. There were also large rescue ships. But several ships and passengers perished. Sometimes a sinking ship left a cover of oil on the water which then caught fire and burned soldiers to death. All in all, the scenes are difficult to watch.

As a human-interest note in the film, one British small boat owner and his sons are featured. Along the way they rescue a shell-shocked soldier, further showing the horror of war.

Also featured are the British pilots who tried to battle the German planes that came to bomb the marooned soldiers.

Inspiring, terrifying, but worth the watch.

2017, Could Be Sad, Drama, Explicit sex, Father-son relations, French, Gay theme, Italian, Italian culture, Masturbation, Mostly About Sex, Mother-son relations, Nudity, Sensitive treatement of emotions, Sex Scenes, Sexual Tension, Small Town, Teenagers, Various Romances, Wonderful photography

Call Me By Your Name (2017)

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From IMDB:

In 1980s Italy, a romance blossoms between a seventeen year-old student and the older man hired as his father’s research assistant.

British Airways offered this film with subtitles. In fact, there is a mixture of languages.

In the book by André Aciman as I recall, correct me if I am wrong, there is no sexual contact between Oliver (played by Armie Hammer) the older assistant and Elio (played by Timothée Chalamet) the teenage son. But this supposed screen adaptation shows almost explicit sexual activity. In one review I read, the critic complained that the film could be seen as condoning Oliver’s self-interested grooming of the young, inexperienced Elio. So you must do at least three things: forget the book, prepare yourself emotionally for the scenes, and decide for yourself what you really think about Oliver’s behavior. 

Evocative portrait of a small setting in northern Italy, but quite possibly not to everyone’s taste.

2018, Abduction, Action Film, Action Hero, Amazon Prime, Amnesia, Bloody scenes, Brother-Sister relations, Car Chase, Child abuse, Complicated, Creepy, Detective, Disturbing Image, Emotional child abuse, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Forensics, Improbable details, Invincible Hero, Kidnapping, Mad scientist, Marital Infidelity, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Physical child abuse, Psychopath, Revenge, Serial Killer, Sometimes seems silly, Suspense, Thriller, Torture, Unbelievably smart detective, Violent

Absentia (2018)

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From Amazon Prime:

Centers on an FBI agent who disappears without a trace while hunting a serial killer.

From IMDB:

After being declared dead in absentia, an FBI agent must reclaim her family, identity and innocence when she finds herself the prime suspect in a string of murders.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 10 episodes of this one season Amazon Prime Original series. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

With so many categories involved, it is hard to pin down a short characterization: suspense, police detectives, FBI, serial killers, mad scientist, kidnapping, innocent suspect trying to find the truth.

Emily Byrne, who is played by Stana Katic (Kate Becket of “Castle” fame), is central to the story. Emily, an FBI agent, has been missing for 6 years. Her supposed killer, Conrad Harlow, is released from jail when she mysteriously reappears suffering from amnesia. Meanwhile her husband, FBI agent Nick Durand, has remarried Alice Durand. Nick and Alice are raising Flynn, Nick’s son by Emily. Needless to say, Nick will remain conflicted about a choice between Emily and Alice for all ten episodes.

Emily’s energies are devoted for all ten episodes in finding out what ever happened to her. She has nightmare flashbacks to being placed in a sealed glass tank that regularly fills with water to almost drown her. Unfortunately Harlow is murdered and Emily is blamed. More murders ensue for which Emily is again blamed. For the rest of the story Emily is on the run from the Boston Police Department and the FBI in a desperate attempt to learn the truth and clear her name. Emily’s father and brother become involved. Nick teams up with a BPD detective to do the investigation.

Before you devote yourself to 10 episodes, there are some warnings:

  • At least the first time you see that torture tank you will almost certainly cringe. That tank is a persistent fixture in the story.
  • Emily is an unbelievable superwoman: she leaps over walls, she runs for long distances, seeming she hardly ever eats or sleeps, she always invents incredibly clever solutions for each crisis. In other words, just suspend disbelief.
  • Similarly there are just too many suddenly convenient discoveries, clues, escapes, etc. Again just suspend disbelief. But it did help to have a happy (if somewhat lame) ending.

Having warned you, nevertheless I breathlessly binge-watched all ten episodes.