Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

zif ofoz Here we have over 100 minutes of the same topic being told over and over! What was Director Paul Weitz thinking?We see over and over Nick Flynn's relationship with his over stressed mother and psychotic bum father. Dano is sadly one dimensional and predictable - even with all the evidence before him of how he will end up if he doesn't change his ways. De Niro is a wise old sage in one scene then a screaming maniac in another, then a boozed up drunk in another scene and all the while he says the same thing over and over to Nick (his son).We - the viewers - know how this story will end. Believe me, it's no surprise! The ending of the movie might as well have been the beginning! I was bored watching and now I'm bored writing about this movie.

Andy Bryan I really liked this film… a lot. As with a lot of movies based on life the story weaves about a bit. But I particularly like the way the narrative kept switching between son and farther, giving insights and snippets of past and present life. Very character driven storyline and this movie is a good antidote against the high budget, high gloss, special effect driven Hollywood movies… which I also like, don't get me wrong. But in the words of REM, "sometimes you need something more sub sub sub substantial." Both Robert De Niro and Paul Dano give strong performances, but I do slightly worry that Paul Dano might keep being typecast as the lost creative sensitive type. It was nice to see De Niro in a non-comedic role, which he seems to play recently. And it's a good reminder of here is an actor that can act.Well worth watching in my opinion. Don't expect the movie to be wrapped up nice and neat at the end. I couldn't see how they would be able to do that without resorting to Hollywood cliché's. I'm still astounded this is by the same director (Paul Weitz), who directed the frighteningly bad Little Fockers.

David This follows the unexpected reunion between an irresponsible conniving father, and his son who he's been totally estranged from for 18 years. The only reason he tracks his son down at all is for help vacating his apartment which the son obliges him with, telling you something about both of them. The son is emotionally scarred by the absence of his father and the cruel circumstances of his mother's suicide. Perhaps against his better judgement he reaches out to his father but is not surprisingly burned in the process. It becomes about the boy's battle with his demons, decoupling himself from his father's curse, and reclaiming his life.It's painful to watch the boy struggling with the urge to cling to the life buoy his father represents, but holding himself back because of his residual anger at his father's absence and negligence. If he handles the situation wrong he could end up going down with a sinking ship.You get an idea of what it's like going from living in an apartment to living on the street - not something I recall seeing on the big screen before, so worth watching for that alone. Really refreshing to see De Niro trying to act again after some of the vapid paydays he's been churning out over the last decade or so. I thought he'd totally run out of steam but clearly there's a bit left in the tank. He does a great job here anyway. Quite believable as the complex narcissistic rogue.Paul Dano turns in a decent performance but wouldn't have been my choice for the role. I think he may be a good actor some day but he's not there yet IMO. It all seems too deliberate and affected. Julianne Moore and Olivia Thirlby are pretty good in support.The film has an honest and believable quality about it; just lets the story tell itself without trying to be too sophisticated. There's no OTT horrific cold turkey scenes, no explicit sex scenes, no gratuitous violence. All pretty mundane and believable stuff, which worked well here I thought.All in all this is a superior father/son tale told simply. Definitely worth a watch.

sddavis63 This movie ends on a very hopeful note. Jonathon (Rebert De Niro) end up living in a subsidized apartment, and Nick (Paul Dano) ends up teaching and being a published author. So, basically, things seem to have worked out as well as you could hope for these two. And when this comes to an end, you are very, very grateful for the hopefulness of the ending because - in all honesty - this is for the most part a rather dark and sometimes depressing story.It revolves around the relationship between Jonathon and Nick - an estranged father and son who haven't seen each other for 18 years. Both are struggling. Jonathon lives a fantasy about being a classic American author who's written a classic novel - notwithstanding that no one will publish it. He's an alcoholic taxi driver really; and he ends up on the streets after being kicked out of his apartment. There's some play made of him being racist and homophobic, but those characteristics really didn't take centre stage for me. He was just difficult. Nick also fancies himself as a writer, but he's dealing with a lot of demons from his past - the fact that his father was never present in his life, and the fact that his mother (played in flashbacks by Julianne Moore) committed suicide (he thinks because she read an unfinished story about herself that he wrote, before he had a chance to add at the end of it how much he loved her and what a good mother she was.) He drinks, he does drugs, but eventually he lands a job at a homeless shelter, and - much to his surprise - into the shelter one day walks Jonathon. The story goes from there.While often dark and depressing, this is an interesting enough story, made even more interesting that it's based on Nick Flynn's actual memoirs. Aside from the father-son relationship, one of the most interesting aspects of it is the depiction of life in a homeless shelter. It also features magnificent performances from Dano, and especially from De Niro, who proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he's still got it. His portrayal of the troubled Jonathon was superb.This is dark and depressing at times. But if you can work your way through that, it's also a very good movie. (7/10)