Forgetting Dad

What may first appear as a portrait of dementia turns out to be something different. In 1992, California motorist Richard Minnich, 45-year-old father of co-director Rick Minnich, was in the driver's seat when a Sacramento city vehicle rear-ended his car at an estimated 50 mph. Despite a brief blackout, Richard appeared to be unharmed, but a week later, he told his wife that he no longer knew who she was. More lapses in function and memory followed, until Richard seemed to have developed complete amnesia, despite the fact that no brain injury was revealed during med-tech imaging. Nonetheless, Richard received an insurance settlement, divorced his wife and remarried—his third time—to a Bohemian-type woman, and moved to Oregon. Co-directed by Matt Sweetwood, Forgetting Dad follows the younger Minnich as he revisits the unhappy old home front, re-examining the events and presenting a troubling theory: namely, could his father—facing employment setbacks and stuck in a blended-household he really didn't want—have used the accident to fake permanent neuro-damage and escape? In a truly dark twist, we learn that Richard not only worked for a tainted savings-and-loan giant but also might have had reason to believe that crooked financiers were planning to kill him. But ultimately the film focuses less on any criminal aspect than it does on the suspect parent's character, motive, and opportunity to skip out on his domestic responsibilities. Also available in an abbreviated 59-minute version (priced at $125 for public libraries and $250 for colleges and universities), this tantalizing real-life mystery—albeit one with more questions than answers at the end—is a captivating saga of family dysfunction. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)