This film presents an all-too-familiar saga of domestic abuse. While it is important to raise awareness of this tragic topic, the end result of "Jusqu' à la garde" was all too foreseeable in its portrait of a deadbeat, violent dad.
In the film's opening scene, it is already apparent during the court hearing that the father Antoine has a problem when he fails to listen to the judge. The imposing size and strength of the man, as well as subtle indications of past abuse, should have alerted both the wife's attorney and the magistrate to order strictly supervised visitation rights for the man. The judge kept looking down at and reading her papers when she should have been looking at Antoine and asking the right questions.
As the film progressed, the family was far too slow in alerting the police and getting a restraining order against Antoine. A key moment was when Antoine's own parents witnessed his rage and abusive treatment of his little boy. They should have recognized that the kid was terrified of his raging father. Later, the sister of the abused wife witnessed a physical attack on the wife and "threatened" to call the police! What on earth were they all waiting for?
It was especially the catastrophic effects on the children that were so painful to watch in this train wreck of family dysfunction. The occurrences depicted here deserved a far more insightful approach than the predictable story provided in this film.
In the film's opening scene, it is already apparent during the court hearing that the father Antoine has a problem when he fails to listen to the judge. The imposing size and strength of the man, as well as subtle indications of past abuse, should have alerted both the wife's attorney and the magistrate to order strictly supervised visitation rights for the man. The judge kept looking down at and reading her papers when she should have been looking at Antoine and asking the right questions.
As the film progressed, the family was far too slow in alerting the police and getting a restraining order against Antoine. A key moment was when Antoine's own parents witnessed his rage and abusive treatment of his little boy. They should have recognized that the kid was terrified of his raging father. Later, the sister of the abused wife witnessed a physical attack on the wife and "threatened" to call the police! What on earth were they all waiting for?
It was especially the catastrophic effects on the children that were so painful to watch in this train wreck of family dysfunction. The occurrences depicted here deserved a far more insightful approach than the predictable story provided in this film.