Although Otis is the presumptive lead LaBeouf is the real star, he gives an incredibly nuanced and compassionate performance for a deeply flawed character, doubly impressive given this is a version of his real life father. It's a real triumph to portray someone struggling with addiction and behaving badly with such fairness and a sense of reserved justice. Is he a terrible person? No. Is he a good person? No. But he is a human being and it is his humanity which LaBeouf is able to translate. Jupe is pretty astonishing given his age, navigating some very heartbreaking and complicated scenes with not only authenticity but a real emotional deftness. Particularly there's an evocative layered scene with with FKA Twigs as Shy Girl a local prostitute. Hedges is serviceable but isn't able to reach the same heights or truth as his temporal counterparts. He seems somewhat out of his depth with the size of the performance as he typically plays characters with lower volume. This doesn't really detract but his sequences become kind of rote and you just want to return to Lupe and LaBeouf.
The film is shot mostly handheld but the shakey work is more immersive than distracting and there are a number of very effective magical realism sequences that are integrated seamlessly and delightfully. The only fault of the film is that its too short or at least feels incomplete. Perhaps this is a reflection of LaBeouf's actual experience, he is still coming to grips with his father and his past, but as a story the dreamlike interaction the older Otis has with his father at the end is OK but lacks the clarity and assuredness of what went before it.
A deep truthful look at a difficult relationship, an effective surprising piece of wonder from the once promising then presumptuous now promising again LaBeouf.
See It.
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