There's a lot to commend here. The film is carefully structured, full of interesting detail while never losing sight of the story it wants to tell. On the surface it is a family tale, but underneath it is a drama of conflicting values, of care versus cruelty.
Viggo Mortensen the writer has a less steady hand than Viggo Mortensen the director. He has created an austere father figure who lacks the three-dimensionality of the carers he comes into conflict with. In spite of a towering, theatrical performance by Lance Henriksen, there is a feeling of something missing. It may be we just don't have enough back-story: how did this guy get this way? There's only a single line that might give a clue. It's not enough. However, the character's younger self is given a wider range of emotion to play, which Sverrir Gudnason siezes, runs with and scores triumphantly.
The female roles, though in a couple of cases rather sketchy in terms of what they say, are all superbly played, directed lovingly so that the camera fills in the gaps left by the absence of spoken words. This is particularly true of Hannah Gross's sensitive turn as Gwen.
Mortensen turns out to be a very good director of children. The young actors in the cast all give excellent performances.
Of Mortensen the actor there's only praise to give. It's been a joy watching him develop over these many years since his film debut in WITNESS. He's as compelling and believable as ever, never more so than in his tender relationship here with Terry Chen.
Well done, Viggo. Here's to the next one.
