User Reviews

This film is essentially Bill Cosby and the Huxtable Family on television in a major conflict.

The story would have been far better had it dealt with an impoverished white or black family. Instead, we're dealing with an upper class family whose father abandoned them 6 years ago and has now returned following the death of his father. What are we trying to prove here? We have heard time and time again from sociologists about the missing father in African-American families and how this hurts their socio-economic status in society. Now, we're given the missing paternal figure with a wealthy family of African-Americans.

In addition, someone should tell Cicely Tyson to stop playing Miss Jane Pittman over and over again.

All this aside, there are some very good performances by Michael Beach, as the headstrong brother as well as the gentleman in the title role. The two young children convey the idea of a lost father whose presence they need so badly in their lives.

While I praise Beach's work, how could the writer coincidentally use the reappearance of the father at the same time that the brother (Beach) proposes to his sister-in-law only to learn that she never filed the divorced papers? That seems very tacky to me.

I enjoyed this movie a lot. It was a compelling drama that dealt with some serious issues, mainly fathers abandoning their families. Most of us consider dads who abandon their families to be the scum of the earth. But in this movie, we get to see things from the point of view of Walter, our deadbeat dad. We see him as a tragic, tortured character, who never really wanted to leave his family, but who got to the point where he convinced himself that they were better off without him. He's a flawed character, but a sympathetic one. He's a man dealing with a lot of demons from his past, especially an emotionally abusive father. Deep down, he wants to reconnect with his family, but he doesn't know how. His family are mostly hardened and embittered, with the exception of his mother and son Andy. I like how, in this movie, there are no saints or villains. Only imperfect humans trying to deal with an imperfect situation.

The performances were good, especially from Eriq La Salle as Walter. He gives a mostly understated performance that, nevertheless, allows us to feel his deep, inner pain and longing to somehow reconnect with his family and make up for his past mistakes. Veteran actress Cicely Tyson is wonderful too, as his mom. All of the cast gave heartfelt, emotional performances that made you care about them and want to become involved in their lives.

I'm not sure I liked the plot point about Walter's brother James getting into a relationship with his wife Charlotte. It was a little cringy. I did like that the movie didn't go for the sappy ending where Walter and Charlotte reconcile and become all lovey dovey again. She was a woman deeply hurt, and some hurts just can't be made up for so easily. I did like that Walter decided to stay and be a part of his kids' lives, though. How that was eventually going to work out, though, with Charlotte and James together, I'm not sure. It would have to be really awkward.

All in all, this was a poignant, family drama that mostly eschewed sap and sentimentality and gave you realistic, two-dimensional characters that you became invested in. An engaging movie that I won't soon forget.