When “Elvis” (Gael García Bernal) is honourably discharged from his naval duties, he sets off to find his birth father “Dave” (William Hurt) who is a church minister with an whole new family, and whom he has never met. Initially his father is terrified that the revelation that he has a son out of wedlock, who is now in his twenties, will cost him everything so he asks “Elvis” to keep his distance. He, however, has other plans and those include seducing his sixteen year old half-sister “Malerie” (Pell James); ensuring his half-brother “Paul” (Paul Dano) doesn’t clutter up the proceedings for too long and then causing his father to have to have a rethink about his relationship with both his Lord and his newly acquired son. Hemmed in by his religious conviction and family obligations, what chance “Dave” can be won over? I think my biggest issue with this rather disappointing drama is that GGB just doesn’t seem right for the part. He doesn’t exude even the slightest degree of menace as his manipulative and scheming “Elvis” sets about his manoeuvrings. It also doesn’t really help that none of the characters, except perhaps Dano’s, are remotely likeable nor relatable and I rather lost interest as the story seemed to become more and more contrived to seemingly ask us questions about the voracity or relevance of faith. Hurt stands out, especially as the film approaches it’s denouement, but this was just a little too lacking for me, sorry.
