Being Frank is a 2019 comedy about a normal father’s family life turned upside down when his son discovers he has a secret.
Few teenagers in movies have what might be considered functional families, the whole point being that kids are smart and grown ups, well, not so much. In director Miranda Bailey‘s latest comedy, that’s pretty much where we start, though things take a decidedly dark turn, even as it clings to the funny. It a has a number of very serious issues front and center, though the genre forces it to keep real confrontation just out of reach, leaving this a well-acted effort that plunks a few good heartstrings along the way yet slightly left of the emotional punch it feels ready to deliver.
Phillip (Logan Miller) is your average seventeen-year-old high school student, looking to find a nice girl, get into a good college, and earn the respect of his dad. Problem is, his dad is Frank (Jim Gaffigan), a controlling father figure who wants the best for his son and family but doesn’t seem to be all that attentive to any of them. That’s probably because Phillip’s not Frank’s only son and well, it’s not his only family either. See Frank’s done a bad thing. He met and fell in love with two women, then went ahead and – secret from the each other – married them both, raising very similar families. However, when Phillip finds out, he comes up with a plan to get what he wants, though along the way discovers a whole lot more.
Bailey and screenwriter Glen Lakin walk a thin line with Being Frank, creating a character that on all levels must be considered a terrible human being. The movie’s job is to change that opinion, or at least make his choices seem more sympathetic. It ain’t easy, especially since the screenplay is far more interested in trying to keep the Jenga tower standing as it keeps pulling pieces out, so much so, it all sort of slips into something out of standard sitcom than giving greater depth to the real trauma on deck. But maybe it doesn’t need to.
While Frank’s deceit is always in play, the movie is more about Phillip coming to terms with what it means to be his father’s son, even as he unearths all the reasons why Frank does as he does, soon becoming complacent in it. He ends up attracting his stepsister Kelly (Isabelle Phillips), who doesn’t know who he really is and while none of that is developed beyond superficial encounters to help be the means to an end, at least it’s all delivered by a cast totally committed to the premise.
We’re meant to laugh at Frank as his long standing duplicity slowly unravels, knowing that an implosion is inevitable, and of course everything shifts in the process, yet is by design not all that weighty. It also mostly abandons the women, with the wives Samantha Mathis and Anna Gunn perfunctorily coming and going on cue, both at least getting their proper due in the end.
Still, as a story, one with ample room to go in any direction, Being Frank does have some grounded moments that may not feel all that satisfying for some but will for others. I outright question how authentic Phillip’s take in all this pans out but do get what the filmmakers are trying to build toward, and accepting that, feel some right choices were made in the film’s final moments.
Being Frank releases June 14.