Clarke has assembled an enviable cast, then, and the actors don’t let him down – in fact, they’re the only reason to spend what certainly feels like three days watching the film, carrying each clichéd sequence with the heft of their performances. Though he spends the majority of the film in a coma, Dennehy is the sun around which the planets revolve. A chiseled vet, a failed artist, “I have no goddamn regrets!” he bellows, making one wish he was given more screen time.
“Clarke has assembled an enviable cast, then, and the actors don’t let him down…”
The family dynamics are surprisingly real, and certain scenes do stand out. After a mother scolds a young boy at a funeral, he screams, “I’m processing! Fuuuck!” and storms out of the room. A lunch encounter with a doctor resonates (“He’s got a terrible bedside manner,” one of the siblings states sullenly about the doctor’s brutal honesty). The Peaceful Paws crematorium sequence is darkly funny, and I liked Dawn’s desperate running of errands minutes before the inevitable “pulling of the plug.”
3 Days with Dad touches upon subjects like familial differences, living up to your parents’ expectations, sibling rivalry, and generational differences. Too bad it’s all been done before, and better. Its flaccid visual approach and meandering, morose plot may make you pull the plug on your TV set.
"…Its flaccid visual approach and meandering, morose plot may make you pull the plug on your TV set."
