The Discoverers (2014)

In some small part, this film about is about loving America, and its history, without being an obnoxious, revisionist, jingoistic jackass about it. Yes, tea baggers, I'm looking at you. Learn to be humble for once. But, really, that's a small part of this film. This is a story about grief, and how that can be incredibly powerful emotion that can force a person to lose touch with reality, dysfunctional families, reaching your potential, and everything in between. This is a family dramedy at its core. And I think it works, for the most part, thanks to it smart writing, talented cast, and a lot of heart. I will admit, however, that it definitely takes a while before, I felt, this movie really gets going. Everything was set-up well, you know what's going, why it's going on, and the cast does a good job at getting the point across, but I did't really start to get into the movie until, at the very least, halfway through. The film is never bad, at any point, it was just a little rough to get into. I don't know what it was exactly, whether it was the pacing or something else, maybe the story of this man trying to reconnect with his father, who, for some reason treats him like a piece of crap over an incident that happened in their past, after his mother's death. Trying to figure out how to get through to this man who seems to be stuck in his own fantasy world because he's not able to cope with reality is a fairly good story to tell. Retracing Lewis' and Clark's expedition with history buffs, think civil war reenactments, is really just a means to an end. But it does lead to some entertaining moments and some funny lines from Zoe about how they're celebrating the subjugation of the native Indians. Madeleine Martin, who played Zoe, is a really funny actress. She's got a dry and deadpan delivery, something of a like female Bill Murray. Except she's not as great as Murray, but that's who she reminds me of. I digress, however, she gets the best lines and I think her relationship with her father, and how that's developed, is in some ways the emotional core of the film. Granted, it's still about Lewis trying to find a way to connect to his father, but I think, since the film sees Lewis' father being a massive cock, that his relationship with Zoe is the best part of the film. Admittedly, it leads to some silliness once Zoe finds out she's gotten her first period. But I think it works better than I would've anticipated. There's also some silliness during the "expedition", and this was to be expected, but I don't think that the movie makes fun of people who choose to do this. They do present it, at least from the perspective of one of the characters, as being incredibly freeing and relaxing. And I can see how they would think that. The film, unfortunately, is pretty much every indie dramedy you have ever seen. It fits that template very nicely and it doesn't really stray much too far from it. That might not be fair to say about this movie, since I'm sure no one likes their film to be stereotyped, but it is what it is. People, whether you like it or not, are going to react that way. They're gonna compare it to other films of the same ilk they've seen. And that's not even saying it about me, even though I'm actually doing it, I just use it as a reference point for people who may want a simplified description of this film. Of course, not like anybody reads this, so I'm really just as guilty as the next guy. The film is surprisingly unsentimental. Once Stanley finds his way back to reality, coming to acceptance with his wife's death, it is pretty sad, but it's never manipulative in any way. There's no big reunion between father and son, with a sweeping, emotional score in the background to tell you exactly how to feel. It all plays out very subtly, which is the way it should be done. Stanley basically acknowledges that Lewis has done a pretty good job raising his kids, whereas he didn't. He didn't say it in as many words, but that's essentially what he said. There's hardly any music in the film at all, which is smart, because you're letting the actors' and actresses' performance speak for themselves. And I think it works. You come to really like the characters and you grow fond of them and that's what good character development is all about, at least in this form. Of course, different stories require different forms of character development. That goes without saying. And I think the movie ends quite beautifully with Lewis, not being able to go to the conference to give his speech that would give his 6,000+ page book about the Lewis and Clark expedition a better chance at being published, decides to give his speech to his loved ones and it was a sweet ending. Not cloying or sugary at all. It was just a sweet ending. This is a good movie, it's certainly not gonna set the world on fire, but it's more than good enough to warrant a watch on Netflix.