14A - Substance Abuse & Violence.

Director Carl Bessai (COLE, MOTHERS&DAUGHTERS) returns to the well of familial inspiration for FATHERS&SONS, a comic and insightful examination of the masculine side of the family tree. Love, pride, brotherhood and bitterness all get put under the microscope as Bessai follows four families in varying states of disarray. There’s Bernie, who is introduced to his absent father through funeral fisticuffs and an ungodly amount of vodka. The longstanding cross-cultural tension between the straight-laced Cameron and his Bollywood choreographer father, Sutish, comes to a head during the planning of Cameron’s engagement party. Jazz musician and music teacher Blu clashes with his investment banker son, Davis, when the subject turns to finance. And a quartet of brothers battles and bonds over the contents of their late father’s will.

Bessai used an improvisational approach in filming FATHERS&SONS, but the results are far from loose. Even at its most overblown, it’s never less than believable and often uproariously funny. From Bollywood dance numbers to drunken knife fights, anything can happen when you bring fathers and sons together.

PH