Nowhere Special
‘Mummy had to go far, far away,” John (James Norton, TV's 'Happy Valley') tells his 4 year-old, Michael (Daniel Lamont), to spare him the truth that she abandoned them after giving birth. The 35 year-old Dublin window washer is hiding another fact, that of his encroaching death, as he works with social services to find a new home for the boy who has become his whole world in “Nowhere Special.”
Laura's Review: B
After reading about a case just like this, writer/director Uberto Pasolini (producer, "The Full Monty") set about to create a low key film, one which emphasizes the everyday life of a father and son even as the dad wrestles with extraordinary circumstances. He chose well in casting Norton, ironically most well known for playing ‘Happy Valley’s’ brutal serial rapist and killer, as it is Norton’s quiet perseverance that both propels the film and keeps it from becoming maudlin.
After witnessing John washing the windows of both private homes and businesses, we see him come home where Deirdre (Carol Moore) has been watching Michael. The only clue we’re given as to his situation, other than his increasingly drawn face, is the medication he takes from a jam packed medicine cabinet. The next thing we know, he’s walking along a country path with Celia (Valene Kane) and Philip (Keith McErlean) as Michael lags behind holding the hand of dedicated social worker Shona (Eileen O'Higgins, "Brooklyn"). As John talks about what he wants for his son, Celia and Philip seem eager to take him, but as they come into view of a very grand home, we see John get introspective.
Throughout the film, John slowly comes to grips with his own legacy, initially believing that Michael is too young to be told about death and is better off not knowing the parents who abandoned him. Shona, meanwhile, is urging him to create a memory box for the boy, who she says will want to know where he came from. As John drops Michael off at school or plays with him in the park, his eyes drift to other parents and their children, just as his work literally gives him windows into other family’s lives. After he’s met with two more couples, Shona’s boss, Mrs. Parkes (Laura Hughes), warns him there is a limit and they are running out of time, something that becomes more and more evident as John must face his inability to keep on working.
Cinematographer Marius Panduru ("Aferim!") bright, vibrant lensing emphasizes rebirth – you can practically feel the dampness in the earth feeding lush green landscapes. Those simple moments Pasolini invites us to cherish – Michael crawling up to join his dad asleep on the couch or handing him his 35th birthday candle – are accompanied by Andrew Simon McAllister’s gentle guitar score.
There are two upsetting events, one in which John deals with a nasty customer (inviting us all to consider what we do not know others are going through) and another with a couple wanting to adopt for all the wrong reasons, but we know in our hearts just who John will choose and Pasolini couldn’t have ended his film on a better shot than the one he leaves us with here.
“Nowhere Special” provides a window into ordinary lives undergoing a tragic situation and coming through it all with hope because of the intense love of a father for his son.
Robin's Review: B
Cohen Media releases "Nowhere Special" in select theaters on 4/26, expanding in subsequent weeks. Click here for theaters and play dates.
