Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
Metacritic Metascore: 58
IMDb: 7.3

92/100

Release Date: 25 November 2020
Distributor: Amazon Studios
Budget: N/A
Worldwide Gross: N/A
Viewing Platform: Amazon Prime
Total Film Awards: TBD

2020 Ranked 
Hulu Ranked

Beth: "He was the kind of person I wanted to be: smart, funny and considerate."

SYNOPSIS: In 1973, when Frank Bledsoe and his 18-year-old niece Beth take a road trip from Manhattan to Creekville, South Carolina, for the family patriarch's funeral, they're unexpectedly joined by Frank's lover, Walid.

This film hit me, and it hit me hard. It’s impact definitely stays with you and doesn’t wash over you anytime soon after. To say that Paul Bettany is incredible in this film is an understatement. To say…

It’s always the yeehaw gay storyline that usually cuts deep and this film is no exception. Uncle Frank is a drama about a literature professor who, along with his teenage niece and unexpectedly, his lover, went back to his hometown for his father’s funeral, facing his untold past and dark secrets in the process. Homosexuality is considered to be a taboo back then and a sin in most religions, that getting disowned or even killed is a common occurrence, and while our society is slowly becoming progressive towards the LGBT community, the stigma still remains to this day.

The film ties itself up by building the lead characters first before tackling the sensitive issues of same-sex attraction, suppressed sexuality, and…

“My hairdresser is gay.”

Anyone who is lukewarm or cold with this movie probably doesn't know the reality of what being gay was like in the South in 1973. Uncle Frank, written & directed by Alan Ball, is personal, lively, and has such great characters, making it one of my favorites of the year. After Ball's feature directorial debut (Nothing Is Private, which I liked) crashed and burned, I am happy that we eventually got to see another feature directed by him. He, of course, also wrote the on-point American Beauty. A writer of that caliber just doesn't go away that easily.

Uncle Frank succeeds in that it feels like an effortless yet perfect execution of the writing, directing, costumes, and…

2020 Releases Ranked-HERE

Uncle Frank was a great surprise for me. Set in 1973, Frank Bledsoe and his 18-year-old niece Beth take a road trip from Manhattan to Creekville, South Carolina for a family funeral, when they're unexpectedly joined by Frank's lover Walid.

I won't lie to you all, I actually really enjoyed this. Paul Bettany, who plays Frank, gives a fantastic performance unlike anything he's done before and his chemistry alongside both Sophia Lillis and Peter Macdissi (who were both great as well) was brilliant to watch. The story on the other hand? Well.. that's was great as well! I found myself hooked on the relationships between Frank, Walid and Beth and how they interacted amongst each other and…

"I have two words for you... No. Problem."

I know we've had Happiest Season, The Prom, The Half of It, Ammonite (have yet to watch) and the remake of The Boys in the Band (also have yet to watch) all this year, but I feel like this should be the 🏳️‍🌈 bearer for The LGBTQ Film of 2020.

Does it have its problems?
Yes.

Does Alan Ball force it a bit and it not all quite gel?
Sure.

Does it turn into a buddy road movie instead of a character study like it seems it was intended to be?
Yeah...

But does it have wonderful characters and terrific performances to match them?
Yes.

Does it have an emotional story arc…

Played by “Sharp Objects” breakout Sophia Lillis, Beth has always looked up to her uncle Frank (Paul Bettany). He couldn’t be more different from the rest of their ultra-conservative South Carolina family, or from any of the adults Beth knows in the small town where she’s lived all her life. And it’s not just because he lives in New York, or actually looks his niece in the eyes when he speaks to her, and listens to what she has to say — like, you know, girls should be heard and not just seen. Frank wears aftershave. He reads books. He tells Beth that she gets to choose who she is — that she doesn’t just have to be cowed into…

This was a pretty average film, but it could’ve been sooooooooo much better. Aside from Frank, Wally, and Beth, I could not have cared any less about the other characters. And the plot was entirely predictable, though maybe that’s not that big of a deal. But was still a snail’s pace to the finish line. It was funny in some spots and a bit moving in others. But, ultimately, I didn’t care much outside of the three aforementioned characters. It was nice to see the way Beth idolized her uncle Frank. And it was nice to see her connect with Wally. I just wanted to give Wally a hug. The ending was too long. For a film that was barely…

Alan Ball is mostly known for his TV work on Six Feet Under and True Blood, though he's also an Oscar winner for writing American Beauty. With that in mind, this, his second feature length as both writer and director, is more TV movie than Oscar-winning drama. It's a broadly and superficially sketched film that welds different genres together like a Frankenstein monster. Starting off as a coming-of-age film celebrating a young soul's independence, it then flips into a road trip movie with a few detours down a Huckleberry Finn-esque young gay romance before finally settling on being a film about coming out. Set in the early 70s, we are introduced to the Bledsoes, a Southern Christian family stuffed with…