DADDY LONGLEGS

With their first two features, filmmakers/brothers Josh and Benny Safdie already demonstrate a knack for designating reasonably unsympathetic characters as their protagonists: THE PLEASURE OF BEING ROBBED followed an unrepentant kleptomaniac, while DADDY LONGLEGS offers up Lenny (Ronald Bronstein), a divorced father of two who will probably never merit a “World’s Greatest Dad” mug.

Not that Lenny is an inherently bad guy. He obviously loves his two young sons and craves the limited periods of time he can spend with them (he and their mother have joint custody, although the kids seem to primarily live with her). Unfortunately, Lenny often acts like a child himself—he comes off like a zanier, less erudite version of Jason Robards’ character from A THOUSAND CLOWNS, seeking all of the simple pleasures he can obtain out of life without any of the responsibilities. So, while he does take the kids to the museum and the park, his poor judgment repeatedly threatens to overshadow his goodwill. Running late to pick up the kids at school is one thing, but taking them on a road trip with a hook-up he met in a bar (with her beau driving the car!) is on a whole other plane of inappropriateness.

Stitched together like a series of funny/sad vignettes, the film feels loose and casual—almost excessively so (ROBBED was a half-hour shorter and benefited from such brevity.) We see Lenny with his sometimes girlfriend, the improbably-named Leni (Eleonore Henricks, the klepto in ROBBED) and various other friends and neighbors; they all view him as an irascible soul that they’re willing to tolerate (up to a point). It’s the lanky, charismatic Bronstein (think a less-cartoony indie-film version of Cosmo Kramer) who lends Lenny a lot of his charm, but the Safdies should get some credit as well. They aren’t necessarily out to portray a monster or a saint, but a flawed, well-meaning individual who just doesn’t take the time to consider how his actions are going to play out.

That personality flaw comes to a head in the last ten minutes when Lenny’s rational thought processes deplete at an alarming speed. At this point, one fears the Safdies are this close from letting the film get away from them. Instead, they go out on an absurd but melancholy, almost lyrical note. A sense of defeat overcomes everything, as we fear for Lenny, knowing he probably won’t change or grow. But I also smiled at the wonderfully bonkers image the film goes out on. Like so much of DADDY LONGLEGS, you can’t possibly imagine where it will head next. Sometimes, that by-the-seat-of-the-pants quality can frustrate, but it’s also incredibly refreshing.