Synopsis
A Pulitzer-winning writer grapples with being a widower and father after a mental breakdown, while, 27 years later, his grown daughter struggles to forge connections of her own.
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Cast
- Amanda SeyfriedKatie Davis
- Russell CroweJake Davis
- Aaron PaulCameron
- Diane KrugerElizabeth
- Jane FondaTheodora
- Bruce GreenwoodWilliam
- Octavia SpencerDr. Corman
- Quvenzhané WallisLucy
- Janet McTeerCarolyn
- Kylie RogersYoung Katie
Recommendations
- 60
The Hollywood Reporter
Bringing good old-fashioned Mediterranean emotion to a screenplay that feels oh so familiar, this modern-day weepie unapologetically plays to the crowd rather than the critics. - 50
Screen Daily
Seyfried is impressive in the role, mercurial and fragile, but with a flinty coldness deep within. - 40
Time Out London
The list of co-stars – Jane Fonda, Octavia Spencer, Aaron Paul – is so impressive that it’s hard to know what attracted everyone to such a soapy, cloying script. - 40
Empire
It’s tastefully shot and Crowe commits to the horrors of Jake’s illness (his seizures are upsetting) but the writing lacks depth, the character psychology is dime-store Freud and the performances are variable. - 40
Village Voice
While Fathers and Daughters has a strong cast (including a brief appearance by Jane Fonda), it largely saddles them with one-dimensional roles and too-obvious emotional cues. - 38
Movie Nation
The sum of Fathers and Daughters is so much less than each of its individual parts. A misshapen attempt at maudlin (not unlike Muccino’s other Hollywood films), it enrages, here and there, but rarely touches or moves us. - 30
Variety
In its shape and sheen, Fathers and Daughters seems dated even before Michael Bolton surfaces to cough up a gelatinous closing-credits ballad. - 25
Observer
This turkey is too clumsy and boring to make much of a ripple in the summer landscape.
