Writer: Lester Gan Wai Lun

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Watch this if you liked: “Running With Scissors” & “Rocket Science”

"Being Flynn", directed by Paul Weitz, is an adaptation of Nick Flynn's "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City: A Memoir" with Robert De Niro and Paul Dano as the lead. A film filled with drug use, homelessness, and family conflicts. But as exciting and emotional as that sounds, its subtle approach has made it annoyingly bland.

Nick Flynn (Paul Dano) is a wannabe writer with major daddy issues who had just acquired a job at a homeless shelter. His father whom he has not seen in 18 years, Jonathan Flynn (Robert De Niro), is a self absorbed racist homophobe and works as taxi driver. Through a series of events, Jonathan manages to lose his driving license and is forced to leave his home which then brings him to the homeless shelter where Nick is working to create all sorts of trouble and dysfunctional family awkwardness.

While Robert De Niro's acting was top notch as usual, the character he played in this film is just like the friend that we all have who always brags at what they do, but has nothing to back themselves up with, and after a while this reviewer finds himself just tuning out to whatever he has to say. Paul Dano however has his ups and downs throughout his career; in here it was just mediocre as compared to his performances in "There Will Be Blood" or "Little Miss Sunshine", as he fails to register the right emotions his character is experiencing.

If the film was anything like the book, it must not have been a very good book or the adaptation has failed miserably. Enjoying the film is dependent on how well the audience is able to cope with the things that didn't work and be satisfied with the things that did.

Cinema Online, 30 April 2012