Friday, 6 September 2013

"Any Day Now" (The Guardian 06/09/13)


Any Day Now (15) 98 mins ***

It sounds like something from Channel 5’s afternoon schedule – gay couple in 1970s L.A. battle for custody of a neglective neighbour’s Down syndrome son – but Travis Fine’s drama digs considerably deeper into its every scene and character. Alan Cumming is Rudy, a drag artist railing against the insistence good dads don’t wear blusher; Garret Dillahunt his boyfriend Paul, a divorced lawyer who has an in with the system, if uncomfortable ties to the macho world of the bar. Fine never rushes his plot points, instead painting a picture of this generally unfabulous moment in muted brown production design, and allowing his actors to unpick this case’s nuances: he’s fostered a credibly guarded turn from Dillahunt, and Cumming’s most modulated and affecting screen performance yet. It’s fighting a small fight, honestly and with commendable integrity; the kid – young Isaac Leyva – is a real heartbreaker, too. 

Any Day Now opens in selected cinemas from today.

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