By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs
Director/screenwriter
Alan Ball whose work includes TV?s critically acclaimed dramas, ?The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,? ?Six Feet Under,? ?True Blood? and the Oscar-winning ?American Beauty,? latest offering is
?Uncle Frank,? a deeply moving saga about tolerance, love and loss.
Set during the 1970s, in South Carolina, ?Uncle Frank? stars Paul Bettany (?Avengers: Infinity War? and ?Solo: A Star Wars Story?) as a renowned literary professor at New York University. He?s also gay which aside from his closest friends he?s kept secret.
Frank especially wants to make sure his bible-thumping mother Mammaw (the amazing Margo Martindale, TV?s ?American Crime Story?) and father, Daddy Mac (Stephen Root, TV?s ?Perry Mason?) don?t know about his sexuality.
Over the years, he?s managed to convince his family that he just hasn?t connected with the right woman.
Although the cold and dismissive way that Daddy Mac reacts to Frank, you sense early on that maybe he?s seen something and knows more about Frank than the rest of the family does including Frank?s brother, Mike (Steve Zahn, TV?s ?The Healing Powers of Dude?) and his sister-in-law Kitty (Judy Greer, TV?s ?Archer?).
Frank has always been close to his 18-year-old niece, Beth (a terrific Sophia Lillis, ?It Chapter Two? and TV?s ?I Am Not Okay with This?). She?s non-judgmental anyway, and they have always been able to talk to each other.
When Beth decides to attend college in New York and visits Uncle Frank, she?s surprised to discover that he?s been living with Walid ?Wally? Nadeem (Peter Macdissi, TV?s ?Here and Now? and ?True Blood?). However, she?s accepting of his kindness and love for Frank. When a tragedy strikes Frank and Beth?s family, they decide to drive from New York to South Carolina and along the way learn more about each other than they ever imagined. It brings them even closer.
?Uncle Frank? never overplays its hand. It is a heart-warming, funny and bittersweet story that feels sincere and authentic from beginning to end thanks to Alan Ball?s incisive screenwriting and the strong performances from Bettany, Lillis, Martindale, and Root.
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Check Out This Trailer For
"UNCLE FRANK"
Lana K. Wilson-Combs is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics? Association (BFCA), The Black Film Critics Circle (BFCC) and a Nominating Committee Voting Member for the NAACP Image Awards.