The words you would most likely use to describe "The Confirmation" would be along the lines of "amusing", "enjoyable", and "nice". "Hysterical", "inspirational", and "engrossing" would be far too emphatic for this picture.
The premise is uncomplicated. A divorced, alcoholic father, Walt, gets his 8-year-old son, Anthony, for the weekend while his ex-wife and her replacement husband leave town for a weekend trip. His ex stresses that the son, Anthony, needs to stay out of trouble because next week is his first communion and confirmation. Within minutes of the beginning of the movie we're made to understand how concerned she is about her ex-husband being up task of looking after Anthony for the weekend.
Not long after he picks up his son, it's discovered that the tools Walt needs to work a job opportunity on Monday (which he desperately needs since he has been evicted from his home and his truck has broken down) has been stolen out of the back of his truck.
Walt and Anthony then spend the bulk of the movie attempting to track down his missing tools that he so desperately needs.
An almost hypnotic element of the movie is that nearly all the characters seem to inhabit a world where everyone is unrealistically inoffensive. There are fisticuffs and thievery, lots of lying, and a little harmless B & E for flavor, but in general the conflicts are strangely gentle.
Take the fistfights and physical confrontations: have you ever personally watched a T-ball game? You kind of end up rooting for all the players regardless of which team they're on. The players all seem confused and not entirely clear on what's supposed to be happening. You just sort of want someone to be successful at what they're doing because so little success is happening overall.
Here's an example. Along the way Walt and Anthony pick up Drake as an aid to tracking down the missing toolbox. Drake leads them eventually to two brothers, Tucker and Trout, who operate a small garage. Before long, when confronted, Trout decides he doesn't like being accused of stealing a toolbox and out comes a semiautomatic which he points at Walt, Anthony and Drake. At about that point, Walt's ex, Anthony's mom, calls Anthony on his cell phone to check up on Anthony and make sure he's okay. Politely, the gun goes out of sight until the phone call is over. Not really sure why. But it comes back out again when the call ends. Eventually Tucker tells Trout to put the gun away because he can tell just by looking at Walt that he's "hurting", presumably sensing how Walt is struggling with alcohol withdrawal. Suddenly Drake just decides to ignore the presence of a gun and proceeds to paw his way through their shop looking for the toolbox, which isn't there, and Walt and Anthony and Tucker strike up a conversation. Tucker pleasantly admits that he and Trout both "love Drake, but he sometimes gets funny ideas". What comes out in the wash is that Drake has a screw loose and is probably currently on meth but just really really wanted to help. He really likes helping people; he's just not very good at it.
The whole movie is like that. I think the only truly mean characters in the whole movie are the pawnshop owner and his boy. Even the new husband of the ex-wife isn't a villain and tries very hard to make Walt feel welcome. And when we finally catch up with the thief, he and his wife and two little girls are far more pathetic than they are evil, and all Walt and Anthony can do is just walk away.
This movie is described as a comedy, but I don't know if it's really legitimate to say that. It's certainly not a tragedy or a drama; the dramatic elements are more sort of gently goofy than dramatic.
The movie's depiction of alcoholism and its effects are unreasonably optimistic which is kind of a clunky note. Delirium tremens, unmonitored and treated can lead to death in many instances, and is one of the more dangerous addictions to recover from. One bad night and then pretty much functional the next day is not very realistic in my experience.
You will not laugh or cry but will probably smile and might even chuckle once or twice. Walt and Anthony and Bonnie and the new husband all pretty much end up liking each other. Walt and Anthony have had a pretty grand adventure together for a weekend and the two of them now feel a bond that was missing, and you'll go home happy that Walt got his tools back.
The premise is uncomplicated. A divorced, alcoholic father, Walt, gets his 8-year-old son, Anthony, for the weekend while his ex-wife and her replacement husband leave town for a weekend trip. His ex stresses that the son, Anthony, needs to stay out of trouble because next week is his first communion and confirmation. Within minutes of the beginning of the movie we're made to understand how concerned she is about her ex-husband being up task of looking after Anthony for the weekend.
Not long after he picks up his son, it's discovered that the tools Walt needs to work a job opportunity on Monday (which he desperately needs since he has been evicted from his home and his truck has broken down) has been stolen out of the back of his truck.
Walt and Anthony then spend the bulk of the movie attempting to track down his missing tools that he so desperately needs.
An almost hypnotic element of the movie is that nearly all the characters seem to inhabit a world where everyone is unrealistically inoffensive. There are fisticuffs and thievery, lots of lying, and a little harmless B & E for flavor, but in general the conflicts are strangely gentle.
Take the fistfights and physical confrontations: have you ever personally watched a T-ball game? You kind of end up rooting for all the players regardless of which team they're on. The players all seem confused and not entirely clear on what's supposed to be happening. You just sort of want someone to be successful at what they're doing because so little success is happening overall.
Here's an example. Along the way Walt and Anthony pick up Drake as an aid to tracking down the missing toolbox. Drake leads them eventually to two brothers, Tucker and Trout, who operate a small garage. Before long, when confronted, Trout decides he doesn't like being accused of stealing a toolbox and out comes a semiautomatic which he points at Walt, Anthony and Drake. At about that point, Walt's ex, Anthony's mom, calls Anthony on his cell phone to check up on Anthony and make sure he's okay. Politely, the gun goes out of sight until the phone call is over. Not really sure why. But it comes back out again when the call ends. Eventually Tucker tells Trout to put the gun away because he can tell just by looking at Walt that he's "hurting", presumably sensing how Walt is struggling with alcohol withdrawal. Suddenly Drake just decides to ignore the presence of a gun and proceeds to paw his way through their shop looking for the toolbox, which isn't there, and Walt and Anthony and Tucker strike up a conversation. Tucker pleasantly admits that he and Trout both "love Drake, but he sometimes gets funny ideas". What comes out in the wash is that Drake has a screw loose and is probably currently on meth but just really really wanted to help. He really likes helping people; he's just not very good at it.
The whole movie is like that. I think the only truly mean characters in the whole movie are the pawnshop owner and his boy. Even the new husband of the ex-wife isn't a villain and tries very hard to make Walt feel welcome. And when we finally catch up with the thief, he and his wife and two little girls are far more pathetic than they are evil, and all Walt and Anthony can do is just walk away.
This movie is described as a comedy, but I don't know if it's really legitimate to say that. It's certainly not a tragedy or a drama; the dramatic elements are more sort of gently goofy than dramatic.
The movie's depiction of alcoholism and its effects are unreasonably optimistic which is kind of a clunky note. Delirium tremens, unmonitored and treated can lead to death in many instances, and is one of the more dangerous addictions to recover from. One bad night and then pretty much functional the next day is not very realistic in my experience.
You will not laugh or cry but will probably smile and might even chuckle once or twice. Walt and Anthony and Bonnie and the new husband all pretty much end up liking each other. Walt and Anthony have had a pretty grand adventure together for a weekend and the two of them now feel a bond that was missing, and you'll go home happy that Walt got his tools back.