CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

Manthast Absolutely amazing

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Phillida Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

cinemaniac2002 Parental abandonment is something that many people deal with. Some never reconcile it, choosing to ignore it. But the fact is that abandonment early in life can leave scars that affect you for the rest of your life. Pretending not to notice or shrugging it off can seem like it works for a while, but as one ages, the gravity of the experience begins to take form. This film will most likely bring to light some of the circumstances surrounding a viewer's own similar situation.For me, it was realizing how the lack of a father has affected how I view relationships and as a result, my own choices. Young girls learn about male energy and how it can be beneficial from their fathers. My father abandoned me very early in life, surfacing only a few times, one of which was when he was in ill health. Fortunately for me, I was not faced with the situation that Nick was - my father had the means to live on his own. I also had a stepfather who never recognized me even as a family member. When he wasn't ridiculing me he was just ignoring me. Thankfully, my mother was a very strong presence in my life. But she was gone well before her time as well. Nick's mother committed suicide -- and there are many other more subtle ways to do this. Like ignoring your own health and well being and allowing yourself to become so ill that it is too late to repair it.It seemed early on that Nick decided to be a writer because his father considered himself to be one. That, along with providing much inspiration by way of their own story - is another contribution to Nick's life that I'm sure he has acknowledged. The one thing that Nick's father did was validate his writing. For a writer, that can mean more than just about anything.

p-stepien "Being Flynn" is an awkward, semi-detached autobiographical movie based on the memoirs of Nick Flynn written down in his acclaimed book "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City". Nick Flynn (played with true zest by rising quality actor Paul Dano) recaps a period of his life, when still uncertain of having any publishing future encourages him to take up a temporary post at a homeless shelter in Boston. Once there he comes across his estranged and increasingly manic father (a masterful return by Robert De Niro), a self-proclaimed classic writer, who approaches the facility after losing his apartment and livelihood in the form of a taxi business. Left during childhood Nick feels a need for attachment, but simultaneously cannot garner to trust the unfatherly figure. Instead this enhances memories of his mother (played by Julianne Moore), who worked two jobs in an attempt to raise him as a single mother, until finally committing suicide. The situation forces a collision in an extreme situation, as Flynn's father falls from grace with Nick reluctant to help pick up the pieces.A somewhat surprising entry by Paul Weitz, probably best known for being the culprit behind the "American Pie" franchise. Rarely comedic, instead it dabbles in the underbelly of both society and family life, engaging throughout mostly due to the terrific performances by its lead cast. The drama lingers creating atmospheric tension between the two main characters, so even if the movie fails to convey a powerful story and has its moments of prolonged lack of direction, the end result brings about a realistic dark portrait. Somewhat depressing in tone "Being Flynn" above all marks a return to greatness by De Niro and a further marked rise as a future great actor by Paul Dano. Despite some script frailties and occasional incapability for dramatic direction by Weitz, it is still a worthwhile watch and at least a very intriguing character study about generational relations.

radhrh In what must have come as a shock to the poor old bugger, De Niro gets parachuted into a real film! For quite some time now De Niro has simply had to turn up on set, stay awake for a couple of hours and collect a handsome pay check. In what must have been bewildering for a man of his advancing years such vaguely familiar phrases from the mists of time such as "plot" "characterization" and "motivation" were being thrown at him from all angles. Could the venerable duffer rise to the challenge? Partly... Even though strictly speaking De Niro isn't the star he certainly carries this movie, his co-stars, stunned like dazzled rabbits caught in the headlights, don't really convince. Paul Dano continues to play the same disaffected teenager we saw in "Little Miss Sunshine" while the rest of the cast keep there heads down and make for cover. Julianne Moore takes the bull by the horns, pity there aren't any scenes with her and De Niro.

bob-rutzel-1 Nick (Paul Dano) works in a homeless shelter and sees Jonathan Flynn (Robert DeNiro), his father there. He hasn't seen his father for 18 years. Based upon a true story.This is the type of story whereby the main character, Nick, had a disturbing childhood and decided to write about it and now we have the movie. Both Nick and Jonathan have the writing bug.We see Nick go through many of these disturbing events: was told his father was in prison and upon release abandoned the family, the many boyfriends of the mother (Julianne Moore), the death of his hard working mother, seeing his father in the homeless shelter, drinking and getting into drugs, the hard stuff. The acting performances all around are very good. Nick's father is con man without game, and thinks extremely highly of himself. It would have been too easy to feel sympathy for the father if he didn't tout himself as a writing genius (without portfolio) at every turn. But, keep in mind, his situation and deep down you feel Jonathan knows his condition, but outwardly refuses to succumb to it and claims he is a survivor.Sometimes this is hard to watch because we don't like seeing people in the homeless shelter in these circumstances, but if we look outside our comfortable world, we will see real tragedy, people with no hope and who are just trying to make it one more day. I would have thought that Nick would have been more caring, but he endures the father from a distance, something not lost on the father. His big fear is that he will become his father. However, maybe this was the way it really was. With these true stories we are really never sure how it was back then. I am so glad that Robert DeNiro has abandoned the so-called "comedies" he had been associated with as I never found him convincing or funny in them. In here, Mr. DeNiro is on his game and if you look into his character's eyes you will see the bottom. Yes, there may be an Oscar for him, but since the movie has not gotten wide appeal, this may be lost as his was truly a class A performance, and deserving of an Oscar.The ending is okay, kind of bland but tells us hope is alive. (7/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: Yes. Nudity: Yes, male backsides. Language: A lot in the beginning, then it left us (includes f-bombs)