In 1960, Jeannette and Jerry Brinson have recently moved to Great Falls, Montana, with their teenage son Joe. Tensions build after Jerry is fired from a job as a golf pro at a country club. He is offered his old job back but refuses out of pride, and instead of looking for work, he sleeps in his car and watches the local firefighting efforts against a forest fire raging in nearby mountains. To support the family as Jerry looks for a job, Jeannette takes a job as a swimming instructor (although she tries first to get a job teaching at school). Joe gives up football after school to work part-time at a local photography studio. One day, Jerry decides to take a low-paying job fighting the forest fire, which upsets Jeannette and worries Joe. Jeannette speaks openly about her strained marriage with Jerry to Joe, and the stress of the situation takes a minor toll on Joe's school life.
While Jerry is away, Jeannette tells her son they may have to move to a smaller place as they cannot afford their small rented house. She introduces Joe to Warren Miller, a prosperous older man who owns an automobile dealership. She says she taught him to swim and he has offered her a job.
Joe is repeatedly left alone as Jeannette spends time with Miller and Jeannette opens up about her dissatisfaction with her husband's restlessness. Joe wakes one morning and his mother is absent. He goes to Miller's car dealership, but the receptionist does not know who his mother is.
One night, after a dinner hosted by Miller, Miller dances with a drunken Jeannette and kisses her; he spends the night at Joe's house, which a shocked Joe discovers later that night. After Miller leaves, Joe confronts Jeannette about the affair. Jeannette does not admit to caring about Miller or no longer loving Jerry, but concedes that the affair will make their life financially better, and she implores Joe to think of a better plan for her. He tells her that he cannot. The next morning, Joe packs up some of his belongings and heads to a bus stop. As the bus arrives it begins to snow, signaling the end of the wildfires, and Joe returns home.
Jerry returns and is met with a lukewarm reception by Jeannette, who reveals that she has begun renting an apartment in town, and Joe is free to stay with her. Devastated and suspecting an affair, Jerry asks Jeannette to admit to her relationship. Furious upon hearing that Miller slept with Jeannette in the family house, Jerry drunkenly goes to Miller's house and tries to set it ablaze. Miller catches him in the act and confronts him, admonishing him about his behavior with Joe present. When an injured Jerry pleads with Joe to help him escape before the police arrive, Joe flees on foot to the police station, where he discovers his father has not been arrested. Returning to the house, he learns from Jerry that Miller will not press charges, but his parents' marriage is over.
Jeannette moves to Portland, Oregon, to teach, while Joe lives peacefully with Jerry, who has become a successful salesman. Jeannette returns spontaneously one weekend to a strained, but polite, reunion, where she learns Joe has been promoted and is on the honor roll. Joe takes his parents to the photography studio, where he requests that they take a family portrait for his sake. An uncomfortable Jeannette is initially reluctant, but accepts, and the family takes one final portrait together.
In July 2016, it was announced that Paul Dano would adapt Richard Ford's novel with a script he had co-written with Zoe Kazan, and that neither Dano nor Kazan would act in the film.[5] Dano said, "in Richard's book I saw myself and many others. I have always wanted to make films—and have always known I would make films about family."[6] He has also said that this is the first in a series of films he wants to make about dysfunctional families.[7] The film was produced by June Pictures and Nine Stories Productions.[8]
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on 216 reviews, and an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Wildlife's portrait of a family in crisis is beautifully composed by director Paul Dano -- and brought brilliantly to life by a career-best performance from Carey Mulligan."[18] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on reviews from 41 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[19]
The New York Times critic Glenn Kenny called Wildlife a "superb film", calling it "a domestic drama both sad and terrifying". Kenny praised the cast for "exceptional" acting, and said that Mulligan "gives the best performance of any I’ve seen in film this year". He called Oxenbould "an exciting find" and stated of Dano's direction as "meticulous in every respect, which enables him to keep the characters at a remove that is both cleareyed and compassionate. The sharp cinematography by Diego Garcia is ideal for Dano’s purpose. The whole of the film is a potent collaboration in every respect, and a remarkable directorial debut."[20]
Writing for RogerEbert.com, Brian Tallerico gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, saying, "This is an accomplished, moving piece of filmmaking, one that cares about its characters and trusts its performers. It comes from a relatively old school of dramatic storytelling but it connects emotionally because of Dano’s tender but confident work and what he’s able to draw from two of the best performers of their generation."[21]Variety's Owen Gleiberman called Dano "a natural-born filmmaker, with an eye for elegant spare compositions that refrain from being too showy" and gave the film 4 out of 5 stars.[22]
David Edelstein, writing for Vulture gave the film full marks, calling the film "superb", saying "[Dano] gives his actors space so that the rhythms are their own, and they hold us through the tough final scenes and bittersweet ending."[23]The Guardian's Jordan Hoffman gave the film three stars out of five, saying "It is a quiet, subtle story and, as is so often the case when an actor takes their first trip behind the camera, a showcase for terrific performances."[24]
Criterion release
On February 14, 2020, it was announced that The Criterion Collection selected the film to be released on DVD and Blu-ray.[25]
The release includes interviews with director Paul Dano, screenwriter Zoe Kazan, actors Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal, cinematographer Diego García, production designer Akin McKenzie, and costume designer Amanda Ford, as well as new conversations on the film's postproduction with Dano, editor Matthew Hannam, and composer David Lang. Also included is a Film at Lincoln Center conversation from 2018 between Dano and novelist Richard Ford about the film's source material and a booklet with an essay by critic Mark Harris.[25]
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