Uncle Frank
Amazon Studios
Reviewed by Tami Smith, Film Reviewer for Shockya
Grade: B
Director: Alan Ball
Screenwriter: Alan Ball
Cast: Paul Bettany, Sophia Lillis, Peter Macdissi, Judy Greer Steve Zahn, Lois Smith, Margo Martindale, Stephen Root
Release Date: November 25, 2020

Midpoint during Uncle Frank Aunt Butch (Lois Smith) says to Frank (Paul Bettany): Any news on the female front? And later does not hesitate to tell him: You are all going to hell, you know. To which he replies sarcastically: I know that is the very best you are capable of, while kissing her hand in mock appreciation. Truth to be told is that Uncle Frank is a closeted homosexual who never “came-out” to his South Carolina family, let alone introduced his longtime partner Wally, Walid Nadeem (Peter Macdissi). Frank has been a university professor in New York City for the past decade and is delighted to see his niece Beth (Sophia Lillis), who is starting her Freshman year at NYU. These are the early 1970s and a conflict that escalates quickly after the death of Frank’s father requires him and Beth to go to Creekville, SC and attend the funeral.

Uncle Frank is a theatrical film relying of comic conversations between two characters at a time, all narrated by Beth. Paul Bettany gives us Frank Bledsoe, a forty-six-year old gay man who migrated from a conservative South Carolina’s small town to New York City ten years prior. Sophia Lillis is Beth Bledsoe, a naïve and curious small-town girl, who learns fast to accept the changing times, where conservative southern norms no longer apply. Peter Macdissi gives Frank’s partner Wally an exaggerated sweetness that is embarrassing at times.

Director and screenwriter Alan Ball added some underwritten supporting roles: Margo Martindale as Frank’s mother, who was always aware of his homosexuality; Steve Zahn as Frank’s brother Mike, who seems unsure but tries to adapt to Frank’s “modern world”; and Lois Smith as an old fashioned Aunt Butch who likes Frank but will never accept his gay lifestyle.

Director of photography Khalid Mohtaseb shows a physically beautiful Wilmington, NC, with its rural areas, large houses and a lake, standing for Creekville, South Carolina.

95 Minutes Rated R © Tami Smith, Film Reviewer

Story: B-
Acting: B+
Technical: B+
Overall: B