Wildlife (2018 film)

Based on the book by Richard Ford, Wildlife is the story of a family coming apart where a teenage boy watches his father tend to raging forest fires while his mother begins a relationship with an automobile dealership owner during the 1960s. Directed by Paul Dano and screenplay by Dano and Zoe Kazan, the film is an exploration of a family disintegrating as the roles of parents begin to change as well as those trying to find themselves during a time when everyone had their place in life. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Carey Mulligan, Ed Oxenbould, and Bill Camp. Wildlife is a mesmerizing and ravishing film from Paul Dano.

Set in 1960, the revolves around a family as they had just moved to Great Falls, Montana as their lives to begin to disintegrate after the father loses his job and volunteers to stop a growing wild fire nearby while the mother finds work and begins a relationship with a much older man much to the shock of their teenage son. It’s a coming-of-age film as well as the study of a family whose life is hampered by not just uncertainty but also disappointment just as this 15 year old kid is trying to understand what is going on. The film’s screenplay by Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan follows the life of the Brinson family as Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal) was working at a country club as a golf pro until he’s fired as he gets rehired but refuses to take his job back. Jerry’s pride creates tension with his wife Jeannette (Carey Mulligan) who takes a job as a swimming instructor while their son Joe (Ed Oxenbould) works at a local photography studio when Jerry leaves to take a job in fighting forest fires nearby.

Joe does what he can but becomes troubled by Jeannette’s time with one of her students in the elderly automobile dealership owner Warren Miller (Bill Camp) as a relationship occurs that makes Joe uneasy. The script succeeds in not just understanding what Joe is seeing but also Jeannette herself as it is clear a side of herself that she had repressed in her marriage is starting to re-emerge but with an air of uncertainty. Even as she had fallen out of love with Jerry whom she felt had failed her while Miller is offering to help her out as well as Joe and Jerry with Joe becoming unsure of what he’s seeing though he doesn’t think Miller is a bad guy. Jerry is a flawed individual who feels hurt upon losing his job as him volunteering to fight fires is a way to instill his role as the breadwinner but upon his return. Things have changed and things become more complicated.

Dano’s direction is definitely rapturous for not just setting and its location but also in some of the compositions he creates to play into this growing disintegration within this family. Shot on various locations in Montana and parts of Oklahoma, Dano maintains this quaintness of this small town in 1960 Montana that does look and feel like it is from that time while playing into this world where everyone had a role and identity that they should play. Dano would maintain an intimacy for much of the direction as it relates to characters interacting with one another as much of it features Joe and whoever he’s with as there are some close-ups and medium shots that help play into the dramatic tension that occurs throughout. Even as Dano would often create shots from Joe’s perspective as he would get a discomforting look of Miller walking out of a bathroom and into his mother’s bedroom. It’s followed by moments of Joe looking at his mother and Miller talking in a car as it adds to this dramatic tension as it is shown largely from Joe’s perspective.

Dano also uses the wide shots to not just get a scope of the locations and what Jerry is facing but also in the home as there’s a great shot of the family home shot from the outside as Joe is in his room getting for bed while Jerry and Jeannette are in the kitchen. It plays into the growing disconnection between all three members with Joe having to realize that his parents not only don’t have all the answers but are deeply flawed as people. Dano does maintain some restraint into heavy drama as he prefers for the actors to find the conflict from within as well as realize that the bubble they live in has already burst. Even as the ending is about three people who are a family despite the fact that they’re not as close as they once were but probably found a way to make peace with themselves. Overall, Dano crafts an intoxicating and riveting film about a family disintegrating through failure and uncertainty in the eyes of a 15-year old boy.

Cinematographer Diego Garcia does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography as it is naturalistic and understated approach to the images including the colors of some of the objects with some low-key lighting for some of the interior/exterior scenes set at night. Editors Matthew Hannam and Louise Ford do excellent work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with a few jump-cuts and other minimal stylish touches to help in structuring the story. Production designer Akin McKenzie, with set decorator Melisa Jusufi and art director Miles Michael, does amazing work with the look of the house that the Brinson family live in as well as Miller’s auto dealership and his home. Costume designer Amanda Ford does fantastic work with the costumes as it is largely straightforward to play into the look of 1960 with the exception of the clothes that Jeannette wears that is stylish including a dress she wears on her dinner date with Miller.

Hair stylist Alexandra Ford does nice work with the look of Jeannette’s hair as it ranges from casual to more stylish during her time with Miller. Visual effects supervisors Philippe Desiront, Sergey Kononenko, and Simon Lecavalier do terrific work with some of the film’s minimal visual effects as it largely relates to the forest fires on the mountains. Sound designer Jacob Ribicoff and sound editor Tony Volante do superb work with the sound to capture the atmosphere of the locations as well as some of the sparse textures in some of the film’s quieter moments. The film’s music by David Lang is wonderful for its somber yet radiant music score that mixes piano, strings, and woodwinds to capture the sense of uncertainty and despair that Joe copes with as he watches his family’s life disintegrate while music supervisor Susan Jacobs creates a soundtrack of the music of the times that feature pieces by the Moonglows, Connie Francis, the Elgins, Virgil Warner, Yvonne Devaney, the City of Tomorrow, Dinah Washington, Sue Thompson, the Chantels, Serge Gainsbourg, Kenny Brent & Donna Harris, the Flamingos, and the Marvelettes as well as a classical piece by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and an ambient music piece by Johann Johansson.

The casting by Jodi Angstreich and Laura Rosenthal is remarkable as it feature some notable small roles from Travis Bruyer as the Forester, Darryl Cox as a country club member Jerry befriends, and Zoe Margaret Colletti as Joe’s classmate/love interest Ruth-Ann. Bill Camp is excellent as Warren Miller as a former war veteran/automobile dealership owner who becomes a swim student of Jeannette as he offers to help her as well as be in a relationship where Camp portrays him as a kind man. Ed Oxenbould is incredible as Joe Brinson as a 15-year old kid who watches his parents’ marriage disintegrate as he tries to understand everything while dealing with his own anguish and growing pains in his own role in life.

Jake Gyllenhaal is marvelous as Jerry Brinson as a former golf pro who gets fired from a country club as he becomes a volunteer to get his pride back only to deal with something far more difficult and then come home realizing that his family life is on the rocks. Finally, there’s Carey Mulligan in a sensational performance as Jeanette Brinson as Jerry’s wife and Joe’s mother as a housewife who is angry at her husband’s pride as she takes a job as a swimming instructor while becoming lost in her affair with a much older man as Mulligan provides an understated performance as a woman wracked with internal conflict and confusion as it is one of her finest performances to date.

Wildlife is a tremendous film from Paul Dano that features great performances from Jake Gyllenhaal, Carey Mulligan, and Ed Oxenbould. Along with its rich script, gorgeous visuals, somber music soundtrack, and study of a family coming apart. It is a film that explores a family whose identity is shattered by pride, hardship, and decisions that is seen from the eyes of a teenage boy who copes with these sudden changes. In the end, Wildlife is a phenomenal film from Paul Dano.

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