The Good Father

Long before he directed Four Weddings and a Funeral or this year's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, British filmmaker Mike Newell honed his considerable skills with small, noteworthy dramas such as The Good Father, in which Anthony Hopkins gives an outstanding performance (five years before his Oscar-winning role as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs). Bill Hooper (Hopkins) is a divorced middle-aged Londoner, embittered and angry (at his ex-wife specifically, and all women in general), who vents his pent-up anger by helping another disgruntled husband (Jim Broadbent) gain custody of his young son from his now-lesbian ex-wife. The pair accomplish this with the help of an unscrupulous lawyer (Simon Callow), but in the course of the proceedings, Hooper reconciles with his wife (at least temporarily), has a brief fling with a co-worker (Joanne Whalley), and confronts his extreme ambivalence towards his own young son, to whom he genuinely is, all things considered, a good father. Packed with conflicting emotions regarding marriage, parenthood, and the role of men in an increasingly gender-equal society, The Good Father isn't entirely satisfying as an emotional drama, but the performances are superb throughout, providing an early showcase for actors (like Broadbent and Callow) who were just gaining notice in British cinema. Produced for British Channel Four television during the height of Margaret Thatcher's rule, the film also presents a portrait of England in decline, providing a subtle context of lost idealism for characters who'd come of age during the radical '60s. Boasting an excellent DVD transfer, but no extras beyond an essay by film critic Wheeler Winston Dixon, this is recommended, overall. (J. Shannon)