In simplicity there is complexity ... that is, when there are only 4 people in a movie, you can do something to tell a story other than crash cars, or blow things up. And "In Our Nature" does that.
This is the first movie that I've seen that is brave enough and smart enough to show the problems of a man that has been saddled with a crappy father. Now ... in order to be nonpartisan, or to be fair I suppose "In Our Nature" does not make the father all bad, or rather, we do not see his badness, but we do see the effect it has on the son, and from reading some other reviews of this movie some of them rag on the son as a downer, which he is.
But the point of the movie, which I think did not get through, and that is the reason I gave it a 9 and not a ten was summed up in one of the son's lines in the movie ... to his Dad ... " you can get a new girlfriend, a new wife, a new family a new son, but I can't get a new father".
The point here is - and it is kind of hidden, but it is one of the major problems in our culture, the absence of decent men in families, in society where men are supposed to be the leaders or doers. This toxicity is what the movie is about, but the movie expertly skirts ... not pun intended, the issue.
Nothing is really resolved, what is done if you think about it is that a situation, a dynamic, is expose and highlighted. The problem is that just like in real life, the successful, or older, wiser, richer father always tends to overshadow the crippled son ... and no one really cares.
This is hard to see, hard to portray and there is not much to be done about it I suppose, but I salute this movie for having the guts and skill to be what it is, unique and brave and interesting to watch ... that is really worth a 10/10 in my book, but the 9/10 is because it was not a little bit more plain about what it was.
The character of the father's black girlfriend was really acted well by Gabrielle Union, who I really want to look up and see other stuff by her. She was great, the character was great and groundbreaking. Finally a black woman that did not have to go out of her way to pretend to be while ... or black, she just was - really excellent writing and acting. BUT, again, the perfection of the Vicki character hid the faults of the father as she was always kind of nagging him a bit. I suppose it's a fine line and one would not want to make a character unsympathetic, and I'm not a writer or playwright, so that's just my gut feeling.
All the actors were very good, the scene and location was beautiful as well, the whole movie was memorable and not just something you would only want to watch once. There is a lot to think about here. John Slattery is really a very good actor and has really progressed and done some very interesting things now that he got the chance. Zack Gilford as the son and Jenna Malone as the son's girlfriend was engaging and realistic as well.
All in all a very well made and well told story .... 9/10.
