Thursday, December 03, 2020

Good Morning, World


Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball's new "gay uncle" movie Uncle Frank starring Paul Bettany came up here on the site yesterday because we used five frames from it for our "Five Frames From ?" game -- the movie is now on Amazon Prime; you can watch the trailer if you need the trailer right here -- which reminded me that I really needed to skip back now that it's out and give some love to Paul Bettany's multiple tighty-whities scenes in the movie. And so...

... here we are. If for nothing else bless Uncle Frank for Paul Bettany with a mustache sitting around in tighty-whities. As came up in the comments of that "Five Frames From ?" post yesterday though the movie's a real mixed mixed-bag -- Bettany & Sophia Lillis are terrific, but the script could've used some work, especially in its last act. Too many characters, and too much straining towards simple answers to complex problems. But when it manages to focus in on its central pair it's fairly lovely. Have you seen it? Have you thoughts? Well I have more gifs either way, right on after the jump...











Threw in a little extra Peter Macdissi as Bettany's lovah in case he floats your boat -- I personally found him to be the weak link in the cast, but finding out he's Ball's real-life partner after the fact filled in some blank spaces on that count. Anyway down below I've also added a few extra gifs of Bettany in a three-piece suit getting gay-flirted with by a student just because it's not a terrible scenario to think about! Repeatedly!






6 comments:

Pierce said...

It got a lot of negative comments, but I rather liked Uncle Frank. The acting was quite good and there are some superb performers in it. Besides Paul Bettany, there is Margo Martindale, Steve Zahn, Judy Greer, Alan Campbell (whom I saw on Broadway in Sunset Blvd.) and Stephen Root!

Bradley said...

Paul Bettany was quite good despite the particularly uneven, and often times down right terrible, screenplay.

Eugene said...

I grew up in that Southern atmosphere and while I agree with some of your observations about the film, Paul Bettany's performances transcends those criticisms. I was surprised at how moved I was by the simplistic ending. All due to Bettany. And last time I looked there was a divide between audience response to the movie and critics which seems more and more the case. I'm not exactly sure what that says about audiences...or...critics.

Shawny said...

If you see the film as a dumbed down message film, at least it has the right message.

Anonymous said...

Great movie...I loved the message...The time period...I can see a point of too many characters...I would love to see the movie focus on the main three characters and mix in more of the living gay in that time period...

ttsandwich said...

While the movie surely doesn't offer the most original plot in the world, I don't understand the criticism. The story is told with so much heart, has a message that is still valid and important, no matter how often it was sent before, the characters are believable, and Paul Bettany ... Seriously, Paul Bettany! What on Earth does have to happen that this extraordinary and versatile actor finally gets the recognition and accolades he deserves? His performance here is absolutely nuanced and on point. If this man would finally start to toot his own horn instead of just being support to lesser talented colleagues or buddies in big movies, he could be an A-lister.