REVIEW: ‘My Father Die’ features too much violence, not enough answers
My Father Die, the directorial debut of Sean Brosnan, tries to be an edgy revenge flick, but it fails in its quest to spin a tale worth telling. There is so much time set aside for the violence that the story and characters are shortchanged, and the stylistic flourishes never compensate for the weak narrative. This one feels like a pseudo exploitation movie from the likes of Quentin Tarantino, but those lofty ideals are far too high to achieve.
Joe Anderson (Hannibal and The River) plays Asher, a man hellbent on seeking revenge for his older brother’s murder. As audiences learn in the first few minutes of the movie, a young Asher watched his father kill his brother for sleeping around with the father’s girlfriend. During the violent episode, Asher was hit upside his head, which caused him to go deaf.
As an adult, Asher is finding his way through life, but any semblance of calmness is forgotten about after his father (Gary Stretch) is released early from prison. Now Asher wants to satiate his vengeful thoughts, and along the way, a lot of blood is spilled.
Supporting roles are filled by John Schneider, Candace Smith, Kevin Gage and Brosnan himself.
Few characters, except Asher, are fleshed out. Their inclusion is mostly determined by their connection to the revenge plot. With such a lack of characterization, it’s difficult to know who these people are and what makes them tick. Asher’s intentions are clear, but why is his father such an evil, violent man? Other than setting up the opening-scene murder, what are the details behind the secret relationship between Asher’s brother and his father’s girlfriend?
The narrative is told in a straightforward manner, and this proves frustrating because the movie could be effective as an example of cinematic retro-style, something that harkens back to the 1970s action flicks of car chases, revenge plots and malevolent baddies. By taking out those homages, My Father Die is caught between genres and doesn’t know what direction to head in. Plus, the violence, including a graphic rape scene, is hard to watch, deplorable and doesn’t serve a purpose. Once the audience understands a character is a horrible person, there’s no use in continuing to show the depravity.
Alas, subtlety may be too much to ask for in a film called My Father Die.
The performances are quite believable, especially from Anderson, whose character doesn’t talk for most of the movie. There is a genuine hurt and pain that he feels when thinking about his brother, but again it’s never explored why he instantly turns to violence. It’s made clear that his father is a deadly man, but why doesn’t Asher rely on the help of the police? Perhaps it’s because the police in the film are paper-thin creations who don’t stand a chance in this family drama. One would think that Asher is the type of person who would rely on well-thought-out solutions that don’t end in further bloodshed, but, to be honest, My Father Dies doesn’t provide much in the way of understanding character motivation.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
My Father Dies (2017), written and directed by Sean Brosnan, stars Joe Anderson, Gary Stretch, John Schneider, Candace Smith, Kevin Gage and Brosnan. Running time: 100 minutes. Rating: 
