11/18/20 - Driveways (2020) - 6+/10
A charming and quaint little family feature. Highlighted as being one of Brian Dennehy’s final performances, he does a fine job in an understated and realistically minimal tight presentation. I anticipated the worst with what looked to be a Gran Torino-esque opening, but we got a nuanced and poignant trio of cross-cultural & generational relationships. It played as a singular collection of individuals pushing and pulling at the strings of life, but it did not impact my soul to the extent that greatness usually does.
I enjoyed that every character is well fleshed out, containing importantly unique features, and giving them lived in but un-plumbed historical depths. Not everything was spelled out for you or heaped upon you. The melodrama is minimal, allowing for a reverent practical portrayal of these characters and their experiences. That was refreshing.
The downside of lacking the grandiose and the schmaltz is that there is a certain stagnation. The stakes are small and the connection to possible big emotions is too pliant. The banality and minimalism just lets it pleasurably slide by, rather than digging the hooks in deep and truly taking me on a rollercoaster of passionate sentiment. It needed a little more pizazz to ignite what was more a sparkler instead of a firework.
Hong Chau was propellent and conductive as the struggling mother. Young actor Lucas Jaye was solid and tangible. Dennehy was a focus on the film as it has been discussed, being one of his final film roles, and he is good here - encompassing sternness, loss, vulnerability, kindness, and desire in his telling eyes & interpretive face. And, while he is adroit, I would not say it is any kind of transcendent performance. It is a subtle character and portrayal that capably expressed the minute necessities, but not one that burrows into my thoughts and heart.
Really, Dennehy’s performance was like the film as a whole, a good little piece but not overwhelmingly amazing. This is a pleasant and promising film, but not as evocative or provocative as I had hoped.
