Jake Davis (Russell Crowe) loses his wife in a car crash. He is forced to go into a mental hospital for seven months leaving his daughter Katie to stay with his sister in-law Elizabeth (Diane Kruger) and her rich husband William (Bruce Greenwood). Jake returns and reunites with Katie despite Elizabeth's wish to adopt her. Twenty five years later, Katie Davis (Amanda Seyfried) is troubled in her personal life. She sleeps with a series of men without forming any attachments. She's a psych student working with troubled foster kid Lucy (Quvenzhané Wallis) who has turned mute. Cameron (Aaron Paul) is a fan of Jake's book "Fathers and Daughters". The movie goes back and forth between the two time periods.
The childhood timeline goes too slowly. It's obvious that Elizabeth was going to try to take away Katie and she needs to start sooner. There's no value in going slow with that part of the story. As for the adult Katie, it needs to amp up her dysfunction. The movie needs to start with a more self-destructive act instead of just sleeping around with one-night stands. It's not until the second half that she does something truly disturbing. Also her issue needs to have a more compelling reason. The best aspect of this movie is Seyfried and Crowe. They are first rate actors and they bring more than the slow material on the page to both sides of the story.
The childhood timeline goes too slowly. It's obvious that Elizabeth was going to try to take away Katie and she needs to start sooner. There's no value in going slow with that part of the story. As for the adult Katie, it needs to amp up her dysfunction. The movie needs to start with a more self-destructive act instead of just sleeping around with one-night stands. It's not until the second half that she does something truly disturbing. Also her issue needs to have a more compelling reason. The best aspect of this movie is Seyfried and Crowe. They are first rate actors and they bring more than the slow material on the page to both sides of the story.