In this British drama, a 14-year-old boy's own attempts at parenthood give him a better understanding of his relationship with his often absent father (Ian Hart, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). Rebellious teen Robbie (Kyle Ward) has little contact with his own child, but a violent incident with another teenager spurs him to take the child with him on the run. BAFTA award-winner Brian Percival makes his directorial debut with A Boy Called Dad. ~ Kimber Myers, Rovi
Julie Rutterford's well-observed script has a lively wit, the rainswept seaside sets are atmospheric and the cast are beyond reproach but once they part company from credibility the film's spell is broken.
Shot adroitly, and combining Leone-esque close-ups with long tracking shots of the various urban and rural locations, the film prioritises the ambiguity of emotional ties over expository melodrama.
The film has a nicely desolate air and some sweet bonding between the two Dads. But having avoided the threat of sentimentality, the film falls prey, in its latter stages, to silliness.
I cannot get my head around absent dads. I have two boys and despite whatever circumstances i might find myself in i cant imagine never being in contact with them. My dad did the same thing. From the age of 11 he just didn't bother getting in touch with me and i will never get my head around that .Despite him being
dead for many years it still perplexes me as to why ?. Obviously there are some situations where dads are not allowed to contact their kids and that's different.A Boy called Dad centres around a 14 year old who accidental stumbles across his dad who he hasn't seen for years and at the same time finds himself to be a young dad too.This film is well acted and has some really good intentions but despite it being only 80 minutes long it still loses it's way in the last third.I was surprised at how many scenes involve an actual baby and the poor kid gets pulled around all over the place! Credit to the director for making it real though. I found this to be an interesting film but I'm not sure many other people will.
A lonely 14-year-old Welsh boy who has fathered a child runs into his happy-go-lucky, irresponsible, divorced Irish father by accident and they start hanging out together. When his father disappears again one day, he starts acting out by kidnapping the baby...There were no subtitles with this and I missed a substantial
portion of the dialogue which was frustrating. The ending of this got very heavy and I am not sure I believed it. I also found watching a 14-year-old boy walking around with a baby pretty nerve wracking. Three stars, but it might have been better than I think.
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