Most mainstream cinema-goers won't really know the name of director James Gray. But they may know his back catalogue.
He began life with middle-of-the-road crime dramas such as 'The Yards' and 'We Own The Night'. However, Gray started to be given bigger projects recently such as the underrated 'The Lost City Of Z' and the mixed bag 'Ad Astra'.
Now it seems Gray has gone back to his roots.
It's clear from the tone that it is coming from a personal story from the director's life. There is a lot of heart and detail in the emotion, and that is something we as an audience can easily understand.
When it comes from something you have experienced, you can see the passion in the detail. It paints a great picture of not just the first changes of modern America, but the evolution of its continuing issues.
Child actor Banks Repeta was great in the leading role. There was real authenticity and he had a natural innocence that worked perfectly. A great bit of casting.
Anthony Hopkins is great in this. The way he uses the dialogue that he has been given made everything he said highly profound. He felt constantly comforting in this.
Anne Hathaway gives a lot to her character as well. You can feel her characters struggle and is a solid support whenever it is required.
If I was being harsh, I would say this is not as profound as it should be. But I remained surprised at how much I liked this. This was a well put together coming-of-age drama. I liked the personal and intimate touch director Gray has given to this story. You can feel it in the conversations the characters are having and the emotions that is coming from Repeta's performance especially.
These are the type of films that you can't go wrong with as the person at the helm is the one who experienced it first hand.
Rating: 7/10
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