Wildlife

Director: Paul Dano
Year Released: 2018
Rating: 2.5

In the early 1960's, Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal) gets fired from his job working on a golf course and takes on a new gig putting out forest fires, leaving his son Joe (Ed Oxenbould) and wife Jeanette (Carey Mulligan) behind - Jeanette reacts to this impulsively, starting an affair with the disabled (but wealthy) Warren Miller (Bill Camp).  Dano's directorial debut (isn't he a classic?) is better than expected - it's based on the novel by Richard Ford - and intriguing as a look at how a boy has to grow up quicker than he'd have liked, essentially becoming the parent to his parents, since neither of them have their heads on right (when Dad finds out about Mom's fooling around, he sets a porch on fire).  Jake and Carey are very good, but it's a little superficial and could have taken the time to explore their inner worlds a bit better: surely people go away to do jobs out of town and not every single one of their spouses feels compelled to commit adultery (in other words, some more background on the dynamics of their marriage would have provided proper context).