The value of life often comes truly home when a family member or relative faces their final curtain – and it is into this context that we find ourselves at the outset of Lead Actor, Writer and Director Larry Clarke’s 3 DAYS WITH DAD.
Bob Mills (Brian Dennehy) is clearly not long for this world and as his doctor explains, there are all manner of conditions that are impacting on whether or not he returns to reasonable health in the twilight of his days. However, this is minor compared to the conditions of his offspring, who have all returned to his bedside, alongside his wife – and their stepmother – Dawn (Lesley Ann Warren)
Eddie (Larry Clarke), Andy (Tom Arnold) and Diane (Mo Gaffney) aren’t exactly in a good place either, with all manner of secrets and entwined complications from their own life experiences impacting on the well-being and finalities that are prevailing around Bob. It is clearly a time for appreciation, reflection – and perhaps one or two hard-line revelations….
Structurally and character-wise, 3 DAYS WITH DAD does have everything in place, however there seems to something sorely lacking in a bittersweet comic drama that, in a film like Kenneth Lonergan’s MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, creates complex interactions and broad strokes that satisfy and confirm what the characters truly feel about each other.
Another thing to bear in mind is the works of Todd Solondz, in particular his film HAPPINESS, have heightened family conflicts to a much more knife-edged degree, focusing on the functionality within dysfunction prevalent in the middle-classes and beyond and a film like 3 DAYS WITH DAD only serves to aspire to, rather than take control of its’ ideas within.
Part of it is a lack of clarity about the whole backstory of Dennehy’s character, as here we only get a brief sense of how significant and how much of a father and figurehead he was towards his offspring.
A long life should be more prominent in the overall story arc and at times in the film, we are focusing more on the children, in particular Eddie’s own conflicts, which lend themselves to relationships he has had with two local women, Susan (Julie Ann Emery) and Velma (Amy Landecker), with whom he has a drunken one-night stand after catching up in a bar.
Dennehy is one of the all-time great American character actors and his body of work and popularity will certainly give this film some presence in the market place, as will J.K Simmons’ brief – but effective – comic performance as a funeral employee. Warren also does keep things together as the stepmother-in-denial.
Yet, when the main title character is playing a more supporting role, even in the last stages of life, that will always cause problems for the audience, who want to spend a bit more time focusing on what is so special about this particular person. Most viewers would have welcomed a more broader invite into the world of this family and more revealing conflicts that are only touched on fleetingly.
3 DAYS WITH DAD isn’t a major failure by any means, but it certainly missed a golden opportunity to create a stirring and thought-provoking drama that deserved a bit more from it’s writer-director. That said, Clarke can take much away from the experience – and I am sure we will see more from him in the future.
