by Andrew Buckner

Rating: ***** out of *****.

Propelled by earnest yet honest, organic, and relatable conversations destined to stir the souls of audiences of all ages and varieties, “Sundays with Dad” (2024), from writer and co-star Timothy J. Cox and director Thomas Angeletti, is easily summed up as My Dinner with Andre (1981) in a patio chair. Angeletti’s 22-minute production, like director Louis Malle’s latter-stated 110-minute triumph, are both entirely dialogue and character-driven works. Both projects also start out with casual banter. It is the type of chit-chat any passerby may encounter in almost any routine daily situation. Yet, there comes a gradual tipping point in both attempts where these discussions turn introspective, illuminating, and as emotionally frank for the main personas on the screen as they are for the viewers themselves. Such colloquial shifts give each exercise a striking undercurrent of further sincerity and quiet power. This is as universal themes, such as loneliness, companionship, and the results of change on the person in question, are tackled with the same innate successfulness both opuses executed in their earlier, more generalized deliberations. These exchanges, when combined with the similar focus in both pictures on credible leads, intimate, two-person casts, and stellar performances, make both entries uniquely timeless.

Angeletti’s endeavor concerns a widower named Ben (in a marvelous, ever-watchable turn from George R. Hildebrand). Still mourning the loss of his wife, Maggie, he finds himself looking forward to his weekly gatherings with his son, Jason (in an enactment by Timothy J. Cox that matches Hildebrand’s representation in its commanding and proficient nature), an actor whose recent material merits the funniest lines in the offering. Over time, Ben confesses to Jason that he has begun to seek out someone to cure his need for fellowship. When it is unveiled that this individual is a thirty-year-old prostitute, who is being solely utilized by Ben for the sense of camaraderie she brings and not for sexual reasons, Ben finds himself pulled into his father’s life in primarily awkward yet eventually evermore sentimentally significant ways.

Cox’s screenplay and Angeletti’s guidance of the effort are as smooth, spontaneous, and tender as both the narrative and the approach employed to convey the storyline demands. The skillfully straightforward, unshowy, and uncluttered handling of these attributes are a pitch-perfect counterpart for the overall atmosphere of the piece. These components just as deftly mirror the temperament of the heads of the tale themselves. The same can be said of the easygoing yet potent speech, pacing, and overall structure of the affair. In turn, Ben and Jason intrinsically emerge as fully developed personalities by the appropriately grounded conclusion of the undertaking.

Boosted by coolly vibrant yet down-to-earth cinematography from Jake Reynolds, who applies a veneer to the article that beautifully compliments both the tone and the intention of the composition, Angeletti’s latest opus is all-around technically superb. The editing by Angeletti is crisp and clean. The output is equally sharp in its implementation of William Stanley’s impressive sound design. Moreover, the incorporation of Stanley’s instrumental track, “Blue Skys” (2024), which is softly played throughout the venture, punctuates the breezy, dignified, thoughtful, and overall classic feel of the orchestration as a whole. This is also true of the impassioned talks revolving around music, memories, and mourning which bookend the enterprise. The simple yet stylish opening and closing credits also nicely reiterate these elements. 

Like Angeletti and Cox’s prior collaboration “After” (2023), “Sundays with Dad” is a deeply human glimpse into the consequences of loss. Both chronicles are understated dramatic masterclasses which dare see their subjects through an unfiltered lens of compassion and understanding. They also never contain a moment which rings false or unmerited. In turn, these two cinematic creations prove, like My Dinner with Andre, that often the greatest special effects a fabrication of moving art can contain are a good heart and same said interchanges.

Charming, compelling, and endearingly low-key, “Sundays with Dad” is one of the best films of the year.