A disappointing mess. That's the kindest way to describe this movie. As the credits rolled, murmurs throughout the theater told me I wasn't the only one feeling the same way.
The movie was a misfire on two main levels. The subject matter was tough, no doubt about it. Partway into the movie, we finally meet the father (term used loosely, even in its lower case form), a man (once again, term used loosely) who is an absolute failure. Not because of circumstances or bad luck, but because of himself. Sadly, his delusional shortcomings affected his whole family. Any parent will have a tough time watching this movie, seeing the damage he did. However, I knew that going in, having read some background details about this family. As an aside, the kids themselves seemed amazingly normal in spite of their isolated upbringing.
The second aspect that ruined this movie was the storytelling. Subject matter aside, it just wasn't presented very well. The story was all over the place. A few captions with dates would have helped with the timeline. Much of the footage used was very repetitious. An outsider's perspective would have helped, too, even if something as simple as an interview with a neighbor, for example. Lots of seemingly important milestones were shown, but with hardly a word of explanation or anybody's reaction. There was no real ending, it sort of stopped at what may have been an important scene. The family's situation made for a very compelling story, yet so much was lost translating it to the big screen. A prologue would have been a nice touch, but that didn't happen, either.
This is one of the few movies I wouldn't recommend at all. Your mileage may vary, but don't get your hopes up too much.
The movie was a misfire on two main levels. The subject matter was tough, no doubt about it. Partway into the movie, we finally meet the father (term used loosely, even in its lower case form), a man (once again, term used loosely) who is an absolute failure. Not because of circumstances or bad luck, but because of himself. Sadly, his delusional shortcomings affected his whole family. Any parent will have a tough time watching this movie, seeing the damage he did. However, I knew that going in, having read some background details about this family. As an aside, the kids themselves seemed amazingly normal in spite of their isolated upbringing.
The second aspect that ruined this movie was the storytelling. Subject matter aside, it just wasn't presented very well. The story was all over the place. A few captions with dates would have helped with the timeline. Much of the footage used was very repetitious. An outsider's perspective would have helped, too, even if something as simple as an interview with a neighbor, for example. Lots of seemingly important milestones were shown, but with hardly a word of explanation or anybody's reaction. There was no real ending, it sort of stopped at what may have been an important scene. The family's situation made for a very compelling story, yet so much was lost translating it to the big screen. A prologue would have been a nice touch, but that didn't happen, either.
This is one of the few movies I wouldn't recommend at all. Your mileage may vary, but don't get your hopes up too much.