Does "Uncle Frank" Do Its Cast Justice?

Originally premiering at Sundance at the beginning of 2020, Amazon Studios' Uncle Frank offers a snapshot of homophobia in the 1970s through a family outcast navigating the death of his father. Closeted from his family, Uncle Frank unexpectedly comes out to his niece, Beth, shortly before finding out that his father (Beth's grandfather) suddenly passed away. As they take a road trip from New York to South Carolina to attend the funeral, Uncle Frank's struggles with his family begin to unravel his cozy, stable, and distanced life.

The strength of this film lies entirely in its cast. Paul Bettany plays Frank Bledsoe, a gay man who has distanced himself from his South Carolina family while living as a university professor in New York, and is the oldest son of the recently deceased “Daddy Mac”. For many, including myself, Bettany is best known for voicing J.A.R.V.I.S. and playing Vision in the MCU, so it was nice to be able to see a more traditional character acting appearance for him. His niece, Beth Bledsoe (portrayed by Sophia Lillis), is enamored with her Uncle Frank because of how much more cultured he is than the rest of the family and because he treats Beth with more dignity than they do. Since starring in the IT reboot, Sophia Lillis has been given a fair number of roles and, thus, have seen enough of her to know she pretty much always plays the same character. This was no different, not that it was bad, she fit the role well, but her southern accent would come and go throughout the movie. The real star of the movie is Peter Macdissi who played Wally, Bettany's character's boyfriend in the film.

I struggled with how the characters were positioned in the movie. We were first introduced to Beth, who served as the narrator, and the film made it seem like we would follow her character and learn of Uncle Frank through her interactions with him. That is not the case, as Frank becomes the center character at times, most prominently in the second half of the film, and we learn more about him through memories of his first love. While Frank's character experiences the most intense emotions, Wally is the heart and comedy of the film and I think his enthusiasm stole every scene he was in. That could either be a detriment since he draws so much attention to himself or it could be a benefit that helps balance the difficult emotions that Frank experiences. Either way, I wish there was more Wally. I'll take a Wally spin-off. The supporting cast was good as well, which ultimately left me frustrated because I can't help but think this movie should've felt much more layered, but it was as predictable as one could imagine.

As mentioned previously, the movie's setup appeared to be that of following Beth and learning about Uncle Frank through the ways he impacted her growth and success. Rather than follow that lead, the movie uses a time jump to show how impactful he was in her life, as she followed a similar life path to NY as he did. The main conflict ends up between Frank and his father, except it's really with the memory of his father following his passing. It's not that this feels cheap, as it is a very real scenario, but the main conflict follows a very cowardice move by Frank's father and you can't help but want Frank to give him a peace of his mind. We follow Frank, Wally, and Beth on a road trip to the funeral, which is where the layers start to peel back on Frank and his relationship with his family. The inner turmoil he deals with comes to a head at the wake/funeral, which is an extremely well-acted and tough scene to watch. Where I think the movie falls short is following the funeral, the closure and the family development is too quick and clean. It almost, ALMOST, invalidates the Frank's struggle and would have benefited from an extra 15-20 mins to expand on the family's growth and how they come to terms with their own prejudices and beliefs. Even if it was just extending scenes with Frank and his mother, as important as her acceptance was for Frank, to represent the family shifts in thought.

I will say that a lot of these thoughts came rushing in after continued thought on the film. Even feeling dissatisfied with the ending, I enjoyed the film and watching the redemption of a damaged character. You really come to care about him and Wally, both for their struggles as gay men and for Frank's childhood experiences while discovering his sexuality. I know that there will be some who may feel like the portrayal of the religious South is small-minded, but it is mostly confined and represented by the family. Plus, having lived in the South for the past 17 years and still seeing such homophobia, I can only imagine how bad it was 50 years ago. For that, this can be an important story for older gay men, which is not a population that has been given much screen time, but that's not for me to decide. Ultimately, it's definitely worth a watch and does well in managing the emotional tones throughout, but falls short in a meaningful redemption.