Review: 'The Father' gives Anthony Hopkins a chance to shine, as a man dimmed by age
Movie lovers may sometimes take for granted the power of an actor like Anthony Hopkins — until a role like “The Father” comes along and the old lion, now 83, shows he can still roar.
What writer-director Florian Zeller, who adapted his own stage play, reveals about Hopkins’ character comes out in time-released doses. He lives in a well-decorated flat in London. He’s a retired engineer, though he likes to tell people he was a dancer. He gets daily visits from his daughter, Anne (Olivia Colman), who checks to make sure he’s taking care of himself.
Importantly, Anthony resists Anne’s efforts to bring in a caretaker or nurse to help Anthony get around. He’s run off the last couple of nurses, claiming they tried to steal his watch. The most recent applicant, Laura (Imogen Poots), bears a striking resemblance, he says, to his other daughter, Lucy — which prompts Anthony to complain that Lucy never comes to visit him any more.
Early on, Anne tells Anthony why she’s eager to find some live-in help: Anne has fallen in love with a man, and is planning to move to Paris to live with him. Anthony has his doubts about Anne’s plans — but, then again, he finds himself doubting a lot of things, like when he sees a man (Mark Gatiss) in his flat, claiming he lives there.
Much of “The Father” seems confined to Anthony’s flat, in keeping with the stage roots of Zeller’s story. As things unfold, Zeller hints at what’s going on, without revealing outright why the shifting of viewpoints and even a couple of at-first unfamiliar faces (played by the quite familiar Rufus Sewell and Olivia Williams) appear.
Zeller uses these differing views, employing the semi-surreal tricks of a stage production, to create a portrait of Anthony’s addled mind — an inside-looking-out depiction of dementia that most filmmakers wouldn’t dare to attempt.
It helps Zeller, immeasurably, to have Hopkins in his corner. Hopkins channels both the charm that Anthony still possesses and the frustration and anger as he feels everything important to him — particularly his mind and his dignity — slowly slipping away. Hopkins is electric here, playing off the always-brilliant Colman and his other solid castmates to create a tragic and indelible portrait of a man desperately clinging to some shred of his identity.
——
‘The Father’
★★★1/2
Opened February 26 in some theaters; opens Friday, March 12, at select Utah theaters. Rated PG-13 for some strong language, and thematic material. Runnng time: 98 minutes.