Russell Crowe stars in this sentmental drama, "Fathers & Daughter" playing a Pulitzer Prize winning author named Jake Davis who lives with his young daughter Katie (Kylie Rogers). Things take a tragic turn when they get into a car crash which his wife, her mother dead, and Jake has become oppressed with depression and mental instability while also suffering from terrible seizures which eventually leads to him becoming a patient under psychiatric care. Little Katie is now under the custody of her uncle William (Bruce Greenwood) and her aunt Elizabeth (Diane Kruger). When Jake becomes discharged from the hospital, things are never the same as before. Cut to many decades later, Katie (Amanda Seyfried) is now a social worker and is working on helping traumatized kids who have been affected by events that have took a toll on their mental health like a stoic, unresponsive girl named Lucy (Quvenzhane Wallis). She's saving these kids while she herself needs some saving of her own. Then she meets a young man named Cameron (Aaron Paul) and that's where things go from sour to putrid.
I came to see "Fathers & Daughters" with very little expected of me, and in the result for such a richly done melodrama, I got very little out if it making this movie very unsatisfying. It felt like writer Brad Desch seems to have a read a few textbooks on the topic related to psychology and feels like he's an expert when it comes to the sunject so he decides to arbitrarily write a script related to grief and trauma by that book without really going far as to counsel those who have had real experience related to grief and depression. While Katie's depression issues regarding grief of losing both parents at a young age is right on the money, it still feels more like a hack effort created by a pseudo-expert on this subject making Desch a phony.
It's understanding that Katie's heartbreak regarding her father has been a burden within her even more so as an adult and has never overcame it. It might have blown over the water to some extent but I'm okay with that. Some people show their depressions in different ways whether being subtle or extravagant. The whole notion of her having sex with random men as a way to cope with her depression is problematic with me. However, when the beloved saviour of her life, Cameron decides to step in break her cycle to become the void she is missing becaoming the new Jake father-figure is downright unsettling. It's also in her favour that Katie is quite the looker because if she was homely, Cameron would never give her the time of day. It's also unjustified and quite unqualified that Katie, in spite of her being educated in the field of social work and therapy, that she's trying to interact with a trauma stricken Lucy, and yet she can't even save herself. It might sound like a nice gesture to help her out, but she chose this girl because Lucy fits perfectly from the horrific events she's experienced and to mean that approach is wrong. It's not about challenging herself to different children going through the motions, but about Lucy and how she's a mirror-image of the trauma Katie faced in her past.
Sure as a social worker, Katie like most other people of her calibre might pick this career choice because like her other people in that field might have suffered from various tragic events and will use their own personal experience in helping other kids who are feeling the same way in hope that they might overcome what's bothering them. Though she might seem selfless in helping others before helping herself. However, Katie must fight her own inner demons before passing on her knowledge to others. She clearly isn't eligible to help others and yet people want to turn a blind eye on that. Perhaps a more level-headed social worker would be more sufficient in helping out kids. Katie is just not reliable just yet, at least until her self-conflicted ways are expunged. I'm sure therapists who watch this film will know just how unprofessional and unqualified Katie is at helping kids.
The movie to me was an unsatisfying watch, although the actors put in their hearts to what was given to them. The cast did a great job capturing the image of people dealing with grief and death, it was still very overly melodramatic and cringe-inducing.
I came to see "Fathers & Daughters" with very little expected of me, and in the result for such a richly done melodrama, I got very little out if it making this movie very unsatisfying. It felt like writer Brad Desch seems to have a read a few textbooks on the topic related to psychology and feels like he's an expert when it comes to the sunject so he decides to arbitrarily write a script related to grief and trauma by that book without really going far as to counsel those who have had real experience related to grief and depression. While Katie's depression issues regarding grief of losing both parents at a young age is right on the money, it still feels more like a hack effort created by a pseudo-expert on this subject making Desch a phony.
It's understanding that Katie's heartbreak regarding her father has been a burden within her even more so as an adult and has never overcame it. It might have blown over the water to some extent but I'm okay with that. Some people show their depressions in different ways whether being subtle or extravagant. The whole notion of her having sex with random men as a way to cope with her depression is problematic with me. However, when the beloved saviour of her life, Cameron decides to step in break her cycle to become the void she is missing becaoming the new Jake father-figure is downright unsettling. It's also in her favour that Katie is quite the looker because if she was homely, Cameron would never give her the time of day. It's also unjustified and quite unqualified that Katie, in spite of her being educated in the field of social work and therapy, that she's trying to interact with a trauma stricken Lucy, and yet she can't even save herself. It might sound like a nice gesture to help her out, but she chose this girl because Lucy fits perfectly from the horrific events she's experienced and to mean that approach is wrong. It's not about challenging herself to different children going through the motions, but about Lucy and how she's a mirror-image of the trauma Katie faced in her past.
Sure as a social worker, Katie like most other people of her calibre might pick this career choice because like her other people in that field might have suffered from various tragic events and will use their own personal experience in helping other kids who are feeling the same way in hope that they might overcome what's bothering them. Though she might seem selfless in helping others before helping herself. However, Katie must fight her own inner demons before passing on her knowledge to others. She clearly isn't eligible to help others and yet people want to turn a blind eye on that. Perhaps a more level-headed social worker would be more sufficient in helping out kids. Katie is just not reliable just yet, at least until her self-conflicted ways are expunged. I'm sure therapists who watch this film will know just how unprofessional and unqualified Katie is at helping kids.
The movie to me was an unsatisfying watch, although the actors put in their hearts to what was given to them. The cast did a great job capturing the image of people dealing with grief and death, it was still very overly melodramatic and cringe-inducing.