The film puts forth the idea that the best we ever get are reflections and fragmented images of others, as if we see things entirely through prisms or distorting glass.
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08/06/08
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When Did You Last See Your Father? (2008)
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Reviews Counted:91
Fresh:66
Rotten:25
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: Sensitive to a fault, Tucker's adaptation of the Morrison novel is nonetheless solidly scripted and well-acted; guard your heartstrings.
Theatrical Release:Jun 6, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $732,392
Synopsis: Celebrated English actors Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth team up for this moving drama about a father and son. Based on Blake Morrison's autobiographical novel, WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR FATHER?... [More]
Starring: Colin Firth, Jim Broadbent, Juliet Stevenson, Gina McKee
Director: Anand Tucker
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Reviews for When Did You Last See Your Father?
The film winds up with some meaningful things to say about balancing the desire to clear the familial air and the need to let some things be, but never gets deep enough into its character's psyches to dig up anything more revelatory than that.
06/27/08
Smoothly interwoven flashbacks dramatise both a relationship and an absence of one – or at least the blanks in one.
10/05/07
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10/18/08
The acting is superior in a rather spotty story. Jim Broadbent is a consummate actor who finds the pinpricks in a dry script and sharpens them to magnify Arthur's negative characteristics.
06/19/08
Morrison's book is painfully honest and whilst the film is sensitively handled and impeccably crafted it is also curiously distant and unmoving.
09/01/07
Even bedridden, Broadbent walks away with the film; his son's never outshone him and Firth can't do much besides sulk.
05/15/08
Blake Morrison's pain is invasive and all-embracing as recounted in his book and repeated in this adaptation, which is a wake and a weep for a father lost to male failures of communication.
07/25/08
I have never really seen anything quite like it, and I must therefore wholeheartedly recommend this wondrous work for its magnificently moving father-son performances by Mr. Broadbent and Mr. Firth.
06/04/08
Top CriticWhen it comes down to it, the story of a son who needs validation and his dying father is utterly predictable.
06/26/08
Anand Tucker brings Blake Morrison’s autobiographical bestseller to the screen with sensitivity, humour and visual flair.
10/05/07
It's a great song of innocence and embarrassment, with a lively, gregarious performance at its centre by Jim Broadbent as Arthur and a quieter but no less effective one by debutant Beard.
10/05/07
When Did You Last See Your Father? stands out mostly because of Jim Broadbent, and on the strength of his performance I would recommend the film.
06/14/08
Broadbent gives such a jolly, cagey, not-so-passively aggressive and ultimately warm performance, the film has a life of its own despite being like 100 others.
06/06/08
The film is directed and lensed with such subtlety and old-fashioned restraint that you might overlook the exquisite cinematic flourishes throughout.
07/01/08
Feels like just another classy soap opera.
10/05/07
Smartly, Father never ties up all its loose ends, but along the way, it is blessed with dozens of scenes in which a couple of actors connect in ways that feel deeply, humanly real.
06/27/08
It can be painful to watch as it so painstakingly captures the slow process of loss. But it's worth every last teardrop.
06/26/08
The film is not only poignant, but nuanced, never offering pat answers, predictable revelations or easy sentimentality.
06/06/08
Frustratingly stagnant at times but ultimately a moving story about a dying father and the son who must come to terms with him.
08/29/08
Latest News for When Did You Last See Your Father?
November 01, 2008:
A keen and candid subjective scrutiny of parenting through the eyes of a damaged offspring, but a relentlessly grim, insular perspective that rarely ventures outside those long festering psychological wounds. 
More...
December 14, 2007:
Atonement, Control Lead London Film Critics Noms
The London Critics Circle has announced the nominees for its year-end awards, with Anton Corbijn's Control and Joe Wright's Atonement leading the pack at eight nominations apiece. More...
September 09, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review.
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