Review of I Never Sang for My Father

The subject matter of "I Never Sang for My Father" resonated with me because I, like the character played by Gene Hackman in the film, am in my 40s and am watching my parents turn elderly. I and my siblings are going to have to decide who takes care of whom and how. I have a much healthier relationship with my parents, so there won't be all of the baggage to work through that there is for the characters in this movie, but still, I could relate.

But the film is just too maudlin. It's based on a play, and it shows. The characters deliver lines that might sound o.k. on stage, but they sound overly scripted in a movie. All of the acting is pretty good. Melvyn Douglas and Gene Hackman received Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominations, respectively, for their work, though there was a bit of category fraud at play. I didn't time it, but it feels like Hackman has more screen time, and he definitely gets the bigger character arc, but he was relatively unknown at the time so I see why he was relegated to a supporting player. Estelle Parsons also delivers a good if much shorter performance as Hackman's sister, though she's the biggest victim of the film's stagey screenplay. But good acting aside, the film is too soft and sentimental to hit you where it should.

Robert Anderson also received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Grade: B-