Son + Dad = Feel Good Flick

The Sum of Us

directed by Kevin Dowling & Geoff Burton starring Jack Thompson & Russell Crowe

"The Sum of Us" opens with lines which tie the film together, and become a framework for all of its relationships. A father tells his son, "Your Gran said it once, I've never forgotten it, `The greatest explorers of all,' she said, `are the explorers of the human heart.'"

"The Sum Of Us," a new movie from down-under, looks at the search for Mr. Right from a new perspective. It is an open, humorous exploration of dating in the nineties--for homosexuals and for older parents venturing out again.

The movie revolves around the camraderie between Harry Mitchell (Jack Thompson) and his son Jeff (Russell Crowe). These two play off each other like a comedy team as they send Jeff out for endless dates and patch his broken heart. Jeff's ideal relationship, played in black-and-white flashbacks, is that of his grandmother (Mitch Matthews) and her lover (Julie Herbert), two women whose strength and passion for each other keep them alive. The action Jeff seeks in local bars leaves him wanting. Meanwhile, Harry's instant computer dating success, which brings him a serious relationship, serves as an interesting contrast to Jeff's frustrations.

When Jeff picks up Greg, a shy young gardner his life becomes infinitely more complicated. Greg lives at home, still closeted to his parents. Jeff's "domesticity" with his father is incomprehensible to Greg, and becomes an obstacle in the relationship. This is a tense point where one would expect Jeff to take his frustrations out on Harry. But Jeff, though upset, recognizes how lucky he is to have such a supportive father and friend. Crowe takes his character through these conflicts with genuine warmth and feeling.

In the movie's sunny domestic world, it is easy to forget how unusual Jeff and Harry's relationship is. But a culminating scene jars us with the rhetoric of stereotypical prejudices against homosexuals. Through the unintentionally cruel rhetoric, we suddenly realize how attached we have become to Jeff, and how much we take Harry's acceptance of him for granted.

"The Sum of Us" has been a favorite at international film festivals, garnering Best Actor for Thompson at the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards, and best screenplay in Montreal, among others. It is funny and wonderfully intriguing, confronting issues which people face every day, but that are seldom tackled by the American film industry. As director Kevin Dowling said, "The Sum of Us" celebrates the knowledge that "whether straight or gay, familial or romantic, love is love."