IFFBoston Review: ‘The Vicious Kind’: Misogyny, Love Triangles & Wounded Souls In This Low-Key, But Exceptional Family Drama

With all his recent small, but excellent supporting turns, you knew Adam Scott (“Eastbound & Down,” “Step Brothers,” “Knocked-Up”) was about to get a juicy leading role.

Written and directed by precocious Lee Toland Krieger (he’s 24-years-old and this is his second feature-length film!), is an imperfect, but wholly engaging family drama and love triangle from the perspective of wounded soul. Krieger worked under the aegis of Neil LaBute (he executive-produced this former interns film) and “The Vicious Kind” does evince traces of his mordant characters (the title, obviously), but the younger director grabs from other sources as well and the final feature gives off traces of “Friday Night Lights,” hometown airs and whiffs of David Gordon Green in the use of music and cinematography.

It’s coincidental of course, but the IFFBoston film festival was rife with family dramas built around fractured relationships between the magnate of the household and the prodigal son. And “The Vicious Kind” is no different.

Adam Scott (in one of his first leading roles) stars as Caleb, a bitter, misogynist construction worker who has to pick up his younger brother Peter, Alex Frost, coming home for Thanksgiving to visit his father.

An unforgettable opening monologue at a diner reveals Caleb as a deeply wounded, firstclass woman hater as he warns his brother about the girlfriend they’re about pick up, Emma (portrayed by a primly punk rock Brittany Snow with raven hair and raccoon eyes).

The chain-smoking, sardonic Caleb is seemingly bewitched by his younger brothers girlfriend–likely because she resembles his cheating ex– but nonetheless manages to drive them home to dad with only marginal sarcastic bitching and inappropriate asides. Unfortunately, Caleb hasn’t spoken to his father in the 8 years since his mother’s death, despite living about two miles down the road in rural Connecticut (Massachusetts?) and stubbornly spends the holidays alone, prostrate with woe, despite the percolating lust growing between him and Emma.

Dad (J.K. Simmons in a standout dramatic turn) is a garrulous, unfiltered raconteur who embarrasses Peter at every turn especially when inappropriately commenting on the angelic sexiness of his girlfriend. And Scott’s thick-as-nails friend, non-actor Vittorio Brahm is a bonafide revelation as the construction worker J.T.

However, the misanthropic Scott and his amusing petulance is exceptional. He carries the picture and it’s he who allows us a view into the soul of this broken man grappling with myriad, confusions, heartaches and pains. The shades of comedy he brings to the character nicely round him out as well, but he wisely doesn’t ever seem to feel the desire to soften his asshole character’s edges.

The soundtrack is by and large outstanding (an evocative Explosions In The Sky-like score by Jeff Cardoni) and includes work by Band of Horses (“Lamb on the Lam”), Bon Iver (the wonderfully wistful, “Re: Stacks”) “Robert Francis (“All of My Trains” closes out the credits) and certain moments shouldn’t work on paper (Scott’s bittersweet memory photo montage of his long lost ex for one), but they get by on scrappy charm and vim.

Sometimes though, moments similar to these are just too over-the-top and fail to feel as honest as the rest of the picture. A scene set to brimming, swelling guitars as Scott and Snow run into each others arms feels like a moment from bad episodic television. The cinematography by Bradley Stonesifer is generally beautiful, but a couple of times when it starts to look rather uncharacteristically stark and ugly, you wish the film wasn’t shot digitally.

Ostensibly a love triangle, it’s the father and son story that is the meat of the story, so this is likely why Frost and Snow’s characters are underwritten — the story moves in service of the Adam Scott, J.K. Simmons tenuous relationship — but they still feel a little thin. Snow is surprisingly good too, but she still can’t help but be outclassed (Frost barely even registers though he’s minor enough for it not to matter). Marginal quibbles though in what was mostly a disarming, and remarkably good experience. Surely only bigger and better things can come from the preternaturally mature Krieger. [B+]

There’s no trailer yet and the film appears to still be without distribution, but hopefully someone will put it out soon as its very meritorious and worth championing. Four scenes from the film can be seen here.