To the far left is Paul Bettany
<b>The Time Network features</b> "On the Road with Uncle Frank", starring "Vision" Paul Bethany, written and directed by Alan Ball, the screenwriter of "American Beauty" and the first screenwriter of "Six Feet Below", and the film mainly tells the story of a gay man who did not come out through the perspective of a curious niece.
The film had just premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, and Amazon Pictures had won the distribution rights to the film for a seven-figure price. It's an elaborate social drama film in which the actors perform solidly, with witty and humorous comedy that makes people smile while expressing themes of tolerance and understanding.
Ball's film, which unfolds in 1969, takes place in the small town of Klixville, South Carolina, where a girl named Beth Blysool (Sophie Lilith) feels out of place with the town. She loves her always optimistic mom (Judy Greer) and her dad (Steve Zin), even though he will imitate grandpa (Stephen Rutter) in a harshly reprimanding tone to ask for attention.
Of the family, she feels closest to her favorite uncle, Frank Bledsoe (Paul Bethany). He is a university professor and lives in New York. Four years later, when she moves to a big city for college, Beth discovers the truth about her uncle's life—it turns out that he is a gay, longtime boyfriend with whom she lived, and the lively Wally (Peter Markdis, the actor is the director's real-life companion) living together.
Paul was on set with the director
A family funeral brings them back to the small town of Clexville, and Frank must resist the pain of past secrets, and he has to choose whether to tell the rest of the family the secrets of his sexuality.
In 2007's "The Arabs", Ball's last film work before this year's film, Bauer struggled to adapt Alicia Erian's original complex novel, incorporating many different tones from the novel. And this time, the work is more directly from his own creations.
Can you still recognize this mustache?
Bauer turns this somewhat autobiographical story into a warm, fascinating, and rather empathetic story, showing the common problem of confusing family boundaries and exploring how each generation can force us to re-examine ourselves and the inclusiveness of our belief systems if we can all be truly open-minded.
The story itself doesn't have anything particularly novel — marriage, coming out, growing up, all common plots, and some of them are the solemn and witty elements that we think so-called "road movies" should have. But the combination of these contents became a rather wonderful work, not sticking to small sections, achieving a retro feel on a limited budget, and photographer Khalid Mohtaseb took a very attractive picture.
Sophie Lilith
The performance aspect is actually the biggest selling point of this film. Sophie Lilith, who starred in the "Joker Returns" series, has a natural sense of sunshine affinity, and in such a film, she is very attractive. Bethany's performance is very good, he gives Frank, a highly intelligent character, a self-, rational trait that masks the churning of his inner world, and his inner world is still uncovered in a tragedy.
Markdis's performance is very eye-catching, making the character of Wally alive and three-dimensional, and what is hidden behind his relaxed and lively appearance and love of teaching people is his earnest expectation that Frank can truly be himself.
Zhongkasi attended the film promotion activities
Bauer's low-key film doesn't set a precedent, but in its own way— it shows the hurt of homosexuals who live in love like everyone else, as they do, by trying to contain or suppress their physical realities, telling a valuable story that explores the topic of family tolerance with several engaging characters.
Note: Are you interested in "On the Road with Uncle Frank"? What kind of uncle do you like the most? Please post your thoughts in the comments section and remember to check back at Time's follow-up to the 2020 Sundance Film Festival – including a one-on-one interview with Carey Mulligan on "A Young Woman with a Bright Future".