Harry & Son Reviews

Newman returned to the director's chair for the first time in 12 years with this one. He also coproduced and cowrote the script, and played the lead. As a middle-aged construction worker, Harry (Newman) is laid off when he temporarily loses his sight, leaving him more time to sit around his house feeling bitter and sorry for himself--and to hassle his son, Benson, who dreams of being a writer but generally lacks ambition, at least in Newman's eyes. Most of the film concerns their confrontations. Benson takes a couple of jobs, neither of which he likes, and tries to get back together with his old girlfriend (Barkin), even though she's carrying someone else's child by this time. The film never seems sure of where it's headed, leaving the audience nowhere, with nothing resolved. What strength the film does have is from Newman's performance in the first half, before the film starts to follow Benson more closely and leaves Newman wallowing in self-pity. Benson is as annoyingly untalented as ever, and the film is definitely overlong, bordering on the dull.