net_orders Review of Like Father, Like Son

Like Father, Like Son (2013)

Dramatic Possibilities Mostly Unrealized.

[4/10 · 3 October 2016]

Viewed on Streaming. Subtitles/translations = ten (10) stars. Director Hirokazu Koreeda (who is also credited as the sole screen writer and editor) treads much too lightly on a tale filled with dramatic possibilities. Perhaps the Director feared his story could easy degenerate into an overly melodramatic morass, since he frequently steers his film in the opposite direction resulting in trivia and wooden acting. The plot involves the revelation (after the criminal statue of limitations has expired) that male babies were deliberately switched immediately after birth. This apparently is not unusual at the local hospital that lacks basic controls to prevent these crimes. However, it does employ a lawyer who seems to specialize in such matters. The photo play deals with the discovery of, family reactions to, and "final" remediation of the issue. (Maintaining the status Quo (and minimizing the trauma) via quick reciprocal adoptions would seem like a straight-forward approach, but it is never seriously perused. Perhaps this is because it would abruptly end the story and turn the movie into a short subject!) Impact of vastly different family socioeconomic conditions (one with a rising-Salaryman-star father; the other with a small-shopkeeper father) becomes a major plot point often eclipsing the baby-switching factor (a more accurate movie title might be: "Like Family (Fortunes), Like Son"!). Koreeda seems to have focused his energy on directing his child actors (understandably, as they are usually a major challenge), and, in the process, neglected the performances of his adult actors. Further, those playing the parents in the Salaryman family are miscast. The "score" mostly consists of fragmented piano playing (the Salaryman's "son" is learning to play this instrument) which is overly done. But not completely to the point of boring irritation. Subtitles are excellent with opening and closing credits completely translated. All closing credits can be viewed just in English! An extreme rarity in Japanese films. Doumoarigatou Goziamashita! Worth watching, but don't expect too much. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.