Justin Timberlake plays a former inmate who cares for a child in Fisher Stevens’ drama.
Just a few months ago, Juno Temple helped give the newcomer Apple TV + service its first mandatory visit: Ted Lasso, a practically perfect comedy series that radiated decency and hope in a world that … well, you They were there. She is on the other side of the coin in her reunion with the streaming service, playing a drug addicted single mother so negligent that abandoning her child to the care of a newly released criminal is actually a step in the right direction.
This ex-convict is Fisher Stevens’ namesake hero Palmer, and played by Justin Timberlake, he is almost convincing enough to make you ignore how many times protecting a child has redeemed troubled or grumpy adults on the screen. A competent cast helps the photo to overcome its stereotyped nature (take out a drunk connection and a little language, and this is a totally conventional family film, at least for non-homophobic families), but it does not make it a mandatory film by any means . For followers of Timberlake’s record of acting, who has had ups and downs in commercial and artistic terms, it is further evidence that a second fruitful career can await the pop star if he wants to.
Eddie Palmer of Timberlake is a former hero from his hometown, whose football career ended after just one year of college football. Bad choices and a weakness for painkillers led him to prison, but he served his sentence without complaint; returning to little Louisiana, he is willing to start from scratch to build a new life.
He is going to live with the grandmother who raised him. Vivian (June Squibb) insists on going to church and is not willing to pamper her son: most of her maternal energies are now needed for Sam (Ryder Allen), the woman’s son who rents a trailer in his backyard. Shelly from Temple loves Sam, but is not equipped to deal with an addiction, an angry boyfriend (an underused Dean Winters) and a child. She often disappears for days or weeks, leaving Vivian as her real family. Shelly is in one of those folders when Vivian dies.
As is customary in these stories, Palmer does not want to be overwhelmed with raising children. He may even be a little disgusted with this particular boy. Sam wears barrettes and plays with dolls; princesses are her “favorite thing in the world”. “You know it’s a boy, right?”, Palmer asks him right at the beginning. But seeing others harass the child is enough to make Palmer put his annoyance aside. This is a city of school bullies and Sunday morning gossip, and Cheryl Guerriero’s script shows admirable restraint in allowing us to make our own comparisons between the situation of the criminal and the gender nonconformist.
Palmer understands. And since the only job in town he can get is that of a school janitor, he keeps an eye on Sam day and night. His attention is inevitably noticed by Sam’s beautiful and divorced teacher, Miss. Maggie (Alisha Wainwright), who volunteers to care for Sam. The two adults deserve some kind of minor prize for being able to spend so much time together pretending that they are only interested in taking care of the child.
Timberlake traces a reliable line that goes from the taciturn self-protection of a prisoner, through the humility of unlimited freedom, until the dawn of a possible new life. Palmer is not an especially well-designed character, but he feels real enough to fight for Sam when the time comes – both physically, facing bullies when the boy can’t, and legally, once the necessary challenge to his custody arises. Stevens does not play the arrogant card shamelessly, as many of his predecessors did in similar cases. But the film had no problem putting us on Palmer’s side and hoping the powers would be a father.
Producers: Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Hercules Film Fund, Rhea Films
Distributor: Apple TV +
Cast: Justin Timberlake, Ryder Allen, Alisha Wainwright, Juno Temple, June Squibb, Lance E. Nichols, Jesse C. Boyd, Wynn Everett, Stephen Louis Grush
Director: Fisher Stevens
Screenwriter: Cheryl Guerriero
Producers: Charlie Corwin, Sidney Kimmel, Daniel Nadler, John Penotti, Charles B. Wessler
Executive producers: Terry Dougas, Jared Goldman, Cheryl Guerriero, Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis
Director of photography: Tobias A. Schliessler
Production designer: Happy Massee
Costume Designer: Megan Coates
Publisher: Geoffrey Richman
Composer: Tamar-kali
Casting directors: Kerry Barden, Paul Schnee
R, 111 minutes