Daddy Longlegs

I don't know if what the Safdies endured growing up was akin to what audiences experience in Daddy Longlegs. But I'm very glad they survived to make a very good film about it.

Daddy Longlegs is a discovery destined for year-end top ten critics lists and comparisons to classics like Vittorio De Sica's "Bicycle Thieves" are expected. Hopefully, Daddy Longlegs will also introduce the Safdie brothers to the larger audiences they deserve.

He (Lenny) is completely appalling, and also completely himself, a kind of mad, disturbing integrity that is both matched and mitigated by the honesty of this lovely, hair-raising film.

At its best, this beautiful, off-the-cuff comedy-drama recalls John Cassavetes' shaggiest, most honest work.

Takes a little while to find its way but becomes steadily more compelling as Lenny's character and considerable issues come into focus.

Any normal mother or father, seeing how the movie’s protagonist, Lenny, ostensibly supervises his two sons (Sage and Frey Ranaldo), is likely to suffer cardiac arrest.

A disconcertingly jumpy tale of breathtakingly crummy parenting, the windblown movie dares a tolerant audience not to call Child Services.