Wildlife (2018)

 

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Wildlife (2018) – P. Dano

The acting by the three leads (Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Ed Oxenbould) is strong and seemingly nurtured by the sensitive direction from actor Paul Dano (his first feature, co-written with Zoe Kazan).  Through the eyes of a 14-year-old boy, Joe (Oxenbould), the world of adults is confusing indeed.  Having relocated to Great Falls, Montana, the small family struggles when Jerry (Gyllenhaal) loses his job, seemingly due to personality problems. When he up and leaves to fight bushfires in the Rockies, Jeanette (Mulligan) struggles to find other options to support herself and Joe. As this is 1960 (nicely laid out with period sets, cars, and costumes), those other options at first involve another man who could substitute for Jerry, financially and perhaps romantically.  You can see Mulligan’s desperation and her internal torment as she debates what to do.  Joe is along for the ride, whether he likes it or not.  Indeed, the film is mostly seen through Joe’s young eyes and his desire for his parents to remain together is palpable and often explicitly voiced.  As my parents divorced somewhere around this same time (when I was 13 or 14), I found the movie almost unbearably painful as it lead me to reflect on my own views of my parents’ struggles at that time (and my own emotional reactions). Although my family’s experiences were two decades later, the opportunities for women to choose their own paths and potentially stand on their own feet were therefore somewhat greater (if still not great enough). Mulligan’s portrayal allows us to see her grasping the possibilities of a new life, only half formed in her mind, in a society that is barely open to it.  I guess it could have been similar for my mother.  That said, Wildlife still does not quite manage to escape the circumscribed feel of its anxieties, potentially due to the inarticulate (though authentic) responses of a young teen boy.