Being Frank (2019) The Film Arcade/Comedy RT: 110 minutes No MPAA rating (thematic elements, language, drug references) Director: Miranda Bailey Screenplay: Glen Lakin Music: Craig Richey Cinematography: Yaron Scharf Release date: June 28, 2019 (Philadelphia, PA) Cast: Jim Gaffigan, Logan Miller, Samantha Mathis, Alex Karpovsky, Anna Gunn, Danielle Campbell, Isabelle Phillips, Emerson Tate Alexander, Daniel Rashid, Gage Polchlopek, Thomas Mulzac, Hayes McArthur, Michelle Hurd. Box Office: $67,343 (US)
Rating: ***
I can only imagine the meeting between Miranda Bailey and studio executives when she pitched Being Frank. It might have gone something like this.
Executive A: “Okay, give us the plot in 25 words or less.”
Miranda: “A father and son with a troubled relationship connect over bigamy, deceit and blackmail.”
Executive B: “Sounds intriguing. Tell us more.”
Miranda: “It’s a screwball comedy of sorts. The son’s discovery of his dad’s other life leads to all sorts of hilarious complications as Dad struggles to maintain the subterfuge he’s kept going for nearly two decades.”
Executive A: “Subterfuge?”
Miranda: “Yes. Frank, that’s the father’s name, has two families. He shuttles back and forth between the two. He explains his absences as business trips to Japan. Neither family knows of the other’s existence. His web of deceit begins to unravel when his teenage son Philip sees his father with another family.”
And so forth. End scene. I’ll take it from here.
Jim Gaffigan stars as Frank, the type of person who only sees people’s faults and shortcomings. He’s not particularly nice to his family. He takes his wife Laura (Gunn, Breaking Bad) for granted. He all but ignores his preteen daughter Lib (Alexander). He’s especially hard on Philip (Miller, Love, Simon), a high school senior who just wants to do the things normal teenagers do like go to the college of his choice. He’s elated when he’s accepted at NYU because it means he’ll be finally be out from under his overbearing father’s thumb. Naturally, Dad says no to this. It’s yet another opportunity for him to crush the boy’s spirit with a bunch of mean-spirited put-downs. Understandably angry, Philip decides to defy his parents and spend spring break partying with his best friend Lewis (Rashid) who’s arranged for them to stay with his pothead uncle, Ross (Karpovsky, Girls). Little does he know he’s in for the shock of his life.
Dad’s supposed to be on one of his business trips to Japan so it comes as a surprise when Philip spots him walking by the pool. He thinks he’s there for him but that turns out not to be the case. Philip follows him to a house where he sees him with another family, his second family to be exact. If that isn’t bad enough, he’s hurt when he sees that Frank treats them better. He has a loving relationship with the other wife Bonnie (Mathis, Pump Up the Volume), a happy bohemian type who paints the same landscape over and over again changing only a single detail each time. He’s proud of his other son Eddie (Polchlopek), a jock going to college on a football scholarship. He gives his teenage daughter Kelly (Phillips, To Dust) all the independence she wants. Philip decides to use the situation to his advantage by threatening to reveal the truth to all involved parties unless his father coughs up tuition money for NYU.
So where does the screwball comedy come into play? It all starts with Philip introducing himself as the son of Frank’s fictional friend “Richie”, an unseen presence in both families’ lives. Frank has no choice but to go along with the ruse only for things to grow more complicated as the scenario plays out. For instance, Kelly becomes attracted to Philip. He knows why they can’t be together; she doesn’t. Ross is dragged into the mess as well. Frank needs a “Richie”, he’ll have to do. Predictably, there comes a time when both families are in the same place at the same time. All his years of running interference haven’t prepared Frank for this scenario.
It bears mentioning that Being Frank is set in 1992, a smart phone-free era defined by grunge clothing and Clinton-Gore posters. While I’m not particularly nostalgic for the 90s, I do have some nice memories of ’92.
By definition, bigamists are NOT sympathetic characters. That’s certainly true in Frank’s case. I did not sympathize with him at all. The guy is a liar and a coward. He’s arrogant and clueless. He refuses to admit he did anything wrong, not even when he’s finally caught. He tries to explain it away by saying he didn’t know what else to do. He just wanted to do right by both of his families. In short, Frank is a dick. I’m not sure what this says for Being Frank but I wanted him to be exposed for the fraud that he is. Not only that, I hoped it wouldn’t end with everybody forgiving him. There is no redemption for something like this. Frank is one of the most unlikable main characters (notice I don’t refer to him as a “protagonist”?) I’ve seen in a comedy in a while. If that is the intended response to the character then Gaffigan does a great job.
Miller also goes a good job as Philip although I didn’t quite buy his transformation from angry victim to accomplice. Why would he help the man who never once said a single word of encouragement to him? All he did was criticize and browbeat him. So Frank takes him fishing one time. Big deal! How does that make up for the years of emotional abuse? Miller makes the pain of paternal rejection tangible. Mathis is great as Wife #2; I love how free-spirited her character is. It makes her anger later in the picture all the more real. Gunn is similarly good as Wife #1, a realist who’s known for some time that their marriage was over.
In general, I like Being Frank. It has some funny scenes. It has a few kooky supporting characters. Lewis has a big secret that comes out late in the pic. I won’t say what it is but it makes sense. Karpovsky has some great moments as the druggie with a well of wisdom. The story it tells is engaging. For a first-time feature film director, Bailey does an admirable job. And why shouldn’t she? She has a great track record as a producer with titles like The Squid and the Whale, Diary of a Teenage Girl and the criminally underrated Swiss Army Man to her credit. Being Frank may not be Oscar material or comedy gold but it’s still quite good.
