BEFORE: What started out as a sports chain has sort of developed a theme of surrogate fathers and troubled teens, which was slightly expected. That all wraps up tonight. I didn't plan my linking for this one, but my luck is holding out - Hilary Swank from "The Next Karate Kid" was also in "Million Dollar Baby" with Margo Martindale (last seen in "Secretariat), who has a small role tonight.
THE PLOT: A struggling lawyer and volunteer wrestling coach's chicanery comes back to haunt him when the teenage grandson of his client comes into his life.
AFTER: I admit I didn't know much about this film going in, I just thought it was about wrestling, so I worked it into the sports chain. But there is a whole lot more here. It's kind of like how they can call Cocoa Puffs "part of a balanced breakfast" when it's combined with milk, toast, orange juice and half of a grapefruit. The sport here is surrounded by a relationship drama and a bit of a legal drama as well.
The main character is a lawyer, who decides to become an older man's legal guardian when his next of kin can't be located. He tells the judge that the man is capable of living at home, despite the onset of dementia, and then makes other arrangements. There must be countless people who struggle with these issues, taking care of parents or other older people, all trying to do "the right thing". But what is the right thing? Who determines what the right thing is? And does that change over time, or with a different point of view?
The film suggests that raising children and teenagers puts forward some of the same dilemmas. Everyone wants children to be raised the right way, but one person's values may not be the same as another's. So what is "right"? Perhaps most people just wing it, or conduct trial and error on a daily basis. In this film we see a teen whose mother clearly couldn't handle the job, at least not while dealing with addiction and the other problems in her life.
Last night, karate was the answer, and tonight it turns out to be wrestling. It is a bit of an odd coincidence that a wrestling coach ends up mentoring a kid who already has great skills - he wrestled before becoming a troubled teen - but once you get past this, the rest of the film sort of falls into place. Just call it karma or fate and go from there.
Wrestling (the greco-roman kind, not the WWE kind) is a good fit here, because it represents discipline and determination, those who don't give up are able to turn things around and improve their situations to come out on top. Perhaps it's a bit of an obvious metaphor, but it's effective, and the movie doesn't overstate it, so it kind of develops naturally.
It's also a mostly-sensitive film about family, and how mutable the concept is - when you think about it, your family can change over time, as does your definition of who qualifies. And you don't always get to choose who is in your family, and how they get there. Sometimes the best you can do is just remain open to who the universe brings in to your family, and treat them well when they arrive.
Also starring Paul Giamatti (last seen in "Barney's Version"), Amy Ryan (last seen in "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"), Alex Shaffer, Jeffrey Tambor (last heard in "Tangled"), Bobby Cannavale (last seen in "The Other Guys"), Burt Young (last seen in "Rocky V"), and Melanie Lynskey (last seen in "Flags of Our Fathers").
RATING: 7 out of 10 clipboards
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