Director Daniel Burman's "Fatherhood Trilogy" draws to a close with this follow-up to Lost Embrace detailing the efforts of a devoted lawyer and teacher to live up to the lofty standards set by his hard working father. Ariel Perelman, Jr. (Daniel Hendler) is a teacher whose widowed father Ariel Perelman, Sr. (Arturo Goetz) maintains a strict daily regimen even in his old age. When Perelman, Jr. marries one of his students following a brief courtship and the couple fast begins forming a family,
his wife's departure for a Pilates retreat leaves Perleman, Jr. faced with the daunting prospect of caring for his sixty-five year old father and doing his best to live up the elder Perelman's expectations. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
This observant little movie does delicately touch on those unspoken assumptions that animate so many filial relationships. And the wry, soft-spoken tone is a welcome one amid the dysfunctional burlesques Hollywood routinely extrudes.
A gentle little drama about the shades of fathers passing through their sons . . . brushed with light touches of whimsy and bemusement . . . a delicate questioning of the slight madness of city life, the rush so many of us are a little too swept up in.
Family Law has a sweet sense of how families try to interact and connect... There's nothing big about this film but it's filled with small joys and insights.
Family Law offers a sweet, understated perspective on the psychological dance of wariness, hope and acceptance that occurs between many a father and son.
"Family Law" starts with Ariel Perelman(Daniel Hendler), a law professor, recounting how he met and fell in love with his wife Sandra(Julieta Diaz), a Pilates instructor, while she was auditing one of his classes. So taken was he with her that he started attending her classes and even helped out with a trademark
infringement suit filed against her with an assist from his father Bernardo(Arturo Goetz), a renowned lawyer. Years later, Ariel and Sandra have a son Gaston(Eloy Burman). Even with everything going on in his life, Ariel is still at a loss when he gets an unexpected month long break... "Family Law" is a knowing character study of not one person, but two which is important in considering the differences and similarities between fathers and sons. Ariel and Bernardo are both lawyers but very different ones and human beings. While both are uneasy with the concept of a vacation, Bernardo is social and active in his job while Ariel is withdrawn and passive. Ariel's attitudes were probably shaped by how he saw his father while growing up and perceptions are definitely an important part of their jobs, especially in how important a witness is in a trial.
September 11, 2008
Walter M.
Super Reviewer
Slight drama places Pop on pedestal, uses narration as frequent crutch.
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