Uncle Frank debuted this week on Amazon and their Studio stays true to form that they bring us great and poignant films. Uncle Frank is no exception and comes in a long line of great films about a character having to come out to his family. It certainly isn’t the best film to tackle that subject, but the cast and their wonderful performances make it worth watching. This was my first impression of the film. Paul Bettany heads up this great cast along with Steve Zahn and Sophia Lillis and Margo Martindale. But the one who steals the movie more than anyone is Peter Macdissi who plays Frank’s partner. It was very much a delightful film and a good one for Amazon Prime, but I also have to admit that I feel like I’ve seen this movie before and certainly has its fair share of problems.

We’ll start with what works in the movie. As I mentioned before, it is the performances that make this a great film. Sophia Lillis is wonderful as the young, naive niece and has good chemistry with Paul Bettany. I always find Steve Zahn hilarious in anything that he does and he was no exception this film. And I don’t feel like there is anything bad I could ever say about Margo Martindale as an actress who can play a wretched mother to a nurturing one. She can play a Russian agent in one of the greatest dramatic roles ever on TV,  you should check out her performance in the Americans. And not to mention, she can be extremely funny and steal the show herself. The story centers around an older brother and Professor who hasn’t quite come out to his family, but lives with a man in New York.

Unfortunately, his bigoted father does know about his lifestyle and it all comes to a head when the father dies and through the reading of his will, outs his son by saying he will get nothing because of his perversion. However, it’s the niece played by Sophia Lillis, who finds out first and ends up being more accepting. The truth is everybody is pretty accepting by the end of the film so it’s no great shock when the main character comes out as gay to his family. And as I said before, well it feels like I’ve seen this movie before, but the movie does find its heart in the performance play by Peter Macdissi as Wally, the gay Arabian who casually makes jokes about escaping his homeland because they would execute homosexuals. I have to admit I saw a lot of Nathan Lane from The Birdcage in him. Good performances can make a film better than it is.

Here’s why it’s not perfect. Unfortunately, the film is a bit predictable. You automatically know that the father won’t be accepting and will take that to his grave. Because the hometown is set in the south, it’s obvious that the main character will never be accepted adding another layer to his fear of coming out to his family. Stories about someone being gay in the South and the fear that they live with is nothing new especially when you’re dealing with conservative christian are the only thing that makes this film any different is it’s a period piece and set during the 70’s.  The other issue with this film is it feels a bit short, it doesn’t really find its footing either as a road trip movie or a family movie. It almost feels like it was originally a play and the director or proucers couldn’t really figure out how to make it into a film with the right pacing. We do find out everything we need to know about the main character and why he has hid his lifestyle. The flashbacks of him being caught by his father with his lover when he was in high school are a nice touch, but I also feel like there’s so much more within the backstory like how Uncle Frank ended up in New York and his past relationships that help define  him. We even get a sense that he’s an alcoholic and that has affected his current relationship, but we don’t really know the reasons why. This is the difference between having an extra 20 or 30 minutes in the film. Now this isn’t to say that the film isn’t worth watching. It is and it’s a great film to be on Amazon. So I feel like there could have been much more to this film.

Overall, I do like Uncle Frank and I feel like film Buffs should watch it, he drags a little bit in the second act and then have a great third Act leave the audience with a tearful emotional connection. The second act is where you really tell the backstories of these characters now they all come together instead of just knowing that their family that’s the biggest thing I feel that is missing. But you should miss out on these great performances. They’re emotional and heartwarming and comedic. It may not be The Birdcage, but it is a perfectly timed and poignant about having the courage to come out and deal with the bigotry from one’s own family. At the end of the film, we are reminded of something very important, Love is love and that’s all that should matter when it comes to the love you get from family. Uncle Frank is not disappointing at all, even if it isn’t perfect. And even if it feels all too familiar, well, sometimes we need that especially when dealing with Hutch harrowing subjects like coming out to a conservative family who may not understand and forget what love really means.