14-year-old Joe is the only child of Jeanette and Jerry — a housewife and a golf pro — in a small town in 1960s Montana. Nearby, an uncontrolled forest fire rages close to the Canadian border, and when Jerry loses his job (and his sense of purpose) he decides to join the cause of fighting the fire, leaving his wife and son to fend for themselves.
Log it
Sign in to log this.
Character
Contemplative, grave, earnest and prestige.
- contemplativerelentless
- gravecomic
- earnestironic
- unpretentiousprestige
- classical in formformally daring
Who loves it, who doesn't
No profiled raters yet.
Where do you stand?
Answer first; then see how everyone, and your circle, split.
“Is Jeanette Brinson the real protagonist?”
Sign in to answer.
Be the first to answer.
“Does the smallness hold it back?”
Sign in to answer.
Be the first to answer.
“Is the slow pace a feature rather than a flaw?”
Sign in to answer.
Be the first to answer.
Ask the title
A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Reviews
No reviews yet.
Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- CinemaSerfon TMDB · Apr 20247/10
Ed Axenbould holds this together quite well as the teenage "Joe". His day to day life is thrown into turmoil when his father "Jerry" (Jake Gyllenhaal) gets laid off. Struggling to make ends meet with his wife "Jeanette" (Carey Mulligan) he decides to take a job some way away, a decision that leaves his wife feeling abandoned. The youngster must now cope with his mother's creative methods of dealing with the stresses and strains whilst reconciling his own feelings about both her and his absentee dad, of whom he is really fond. To be fair, not a great deal actually happens here - it is really just a delicately written observation on how relationships struggle once the family bedrock is compromised. Axenbould gives quite an assured performance (though an hair stylist is definitely in order), as does Mulligan and her wealthier friend Bill Camp ("Miller") - a man of whose motives we are never quite sure. The small town mentality is exposed, sure, but so is the distinct lack of opportunities; and as the couple split for purely practical reasons, the story makes us realise just how precarious many an otherwise robust relationship might be when put under such pressures. As usual, Gyllenhaa
Read the whole review on TMDB - 5rJoudon TMDB · Jul 20215/10
**Warning: Gyllenhaal is not the lead here** We see a boring family break apart from the perspective of the young boy. End of story. Safe to say there is no story, but there could easily have been one. Clearly the father is the most interesting character in "Wildlife". Being fired from a job that is not that good in the first place, he retains some of his pride and self-respect by refusing an offer to go back to that kind of work, an offer from the very same people who discarded him before. Instead he shows everybody and himself what it means to work hard, for little money, and do some good in the process. That is the story that should have been explored, not the son's take on things who, admittingly, acts admirable in the face of adversity, but is just not very interesting as a human being. Maybe it would have helped if the actor had any screen presence, or would have even remotely looked like his parents, for believability. Acting is great, from everybody in the film. Setting is awesomely done, camera work is fine. Score is not memorable, but that might be because the pace of the movie is so off, considering there was nothing to tell. 2 January 2019 I am migrating my reviews from
Read the whole review on TMDB - Stephen Campbellon TMDB · Jun 20197/10
**_Old-fashioned filmmaking with a progressive theme_** > _She looked at me and the expression on her face was an expression of dislike, one I hadn't seen before but knew right away. Later I would see it turned toward other people. But the first time was looking at me and was because she believed she'd done all she could that was correct and the best thing, and it had only gotten her stuck with me. And I couldn't do anything that mattered. Though if I could I would've had my father be there, or Warren Miller, or somebody who had the right words that would take the place of hers, anybody she_ _could speak to without just hearing her own voice in a room and having to go about the trouble of pretending she did not feel absolutely alone._ - Richard Ford; _Wildlife_ (1990) The directorial debut of actor Paul Dano, _Wildlife_ is based on the 1990 novel by Richard Ford, and is written for the screen by Dano and his girlfriend Zoe Kazan (with Dano also serving as producer, and Kazan as executive producer). Looking at the implosion of a family from the perspective of a 14-year-old member of said family, the film is thematically similar to Sam Mendes's _Revolutionary Road_ (it's at least par
Read the whole review on TMDB
Cast
- Jake GyllenhaalJerry Brinson
- Carey MulliganJeanette Brinson
- Ed OxenbouldJoe Brinson
- Zoe CollettiRuth-Ann
- Bill CampWarren Miller
- Travis W BruyerForester
- Tom Huston OrrMr. Cartwright
- Darryl CoxClarence Snow
- Ginger GilmartinReceptionist
- Michael GibbonsCoach
Crew
- Paul DanoDirector
- Paul DanoScreenplay
- Zoe KazanScreenplay
- Diego GarcíaDirector of Photography
- David LangOriginal Music Composer
- Matthew HannamEditor
- Louise FordEditor
- Jake GyllenhaalProducer
- Riva MarkerProducer
- Alex SaksProducer
Where to watch
Checking availability…
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
Barbara 201282% alikeBoth grave, prestige, earnest.
The Rain People 196981% alikeBoth contemplative, grave, earnest.
The Portrait of a Lady 199680% alikeBoth grave, prestige, contemplative.
The Browning Version 199480% alikeBoth earnest, contemplative, grave.
My Little Loves 197480% alikeBoth grave, prestige, earnest.
Jimmy P. 201379% alikeBoth contemplative, earnest, grave.
The Golden Bowl 200079% alikeBoth contemplative, grave, prestige.
Priscilla 202379% alikeBoth grave, contemplative, earnest.
Alias Grace 201782% alikeTelevision · Both contemplative, grave, earnest.
Indigo 201172% alikeGame · Both contemplative, grave, earnest.
Often watched with
Recommendations from TMDB. Opening one adds it to Tastebuds
