We assume that director Mike Mills’ follow-up to 2005’s “Thumbsucker,” a new picture premiering at TIFF this fall called “Beginners,” is a l0w-key father/son drama, but nonetheless, we’re interested.
With that in mind, here’s your first look at the two leads, Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer, in the film.
Here’s the TIFF synopsis: When his 71-year-old father comes out of the closet, Oliver must explore the honesty of his own relationships. Here’s a more revealing synopsis:
“McGregor plays a young man rocked by two announcements from his elderly father (Plummer)…one, that he has terminal cancer, and two, that he’s coming out of the closet. Goran [Visnjic] will be playing Andy, Plummer’s headstrong boyfriend”
The film also stars Mélanie Laurent (“Inglourious Basterds”) and there’s very few other details on the TIFF webpage, other than Kasper Tuxen is the cinematographer and the film has a 104 minute running time. There’s not a lot to go on other than what we’ve already written, but we’ve always enjoyed Mills’ music videos (Air, Cibo Matto, Blonde Redhead), his short films, and his sincere and guileless aforementioned debut film which introduced audiences to actor Lou Taylor Pucci (and showcased a rare and strong dramatic turn from both Keanu Reeves and Vincent Vaughn, both of which were small, but effective parts). The film will premiere sometime this fall at the Toronto International Film Festival, which runs September 9-19. Mills had some interesting music running through “Thumbsucker,” including some Elliott Smith cuts and a buoyant Polyphonic Spree score, so we’re hoping for something of note musically once again.