Director: Kurt Voelker
Writer: Kurt Voelker (Screenplay)
Starring: J.K. Simmons, Julie Delpy, Josh Wiggins, Odeya Rush, Harold Perrineau, Jean Louisa Kelly
Plot: After the early death of his wife, a mourning father moves with his teenage son across the country for a private school teaching job. Their lives begin to transform due to two unique women, who help them embrace life and love again.
Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Hard Hitting
Story: The Bachelors starts when Bill Palet (Simmons) moves his teenage son Wes (Wiggins) across country to start over after the death of his wife, he is in grieving and Wes is left to attend the same school Bill has a new teaching role, an high society private school.
Wes is asked to help one of the visitor students Lacy (Rush) by French teacher Carine (Delpy) who also starts to help Bill put his life back on track, the two women give the guys something they thought they had lost in life.
Thoughts on The Bachelors
Characters – Bill Palet is a grieving widow that is looking to restart his life, he is struggling everyday and tires his best to stay strong for his son, he takes a new job across the country and here he starts to look to restart his life, only the fear of moving on is tearing him up despite meeting somebody who starts to make him happy. Wes is Bill’s son, he is forced to start the private school, he finds himself in the chain like any high school set of students, making friends and becoming a tutor for one of the girls in his French class, he is also dealing with his own grieving process, which sees him doing more to try and stand out. Carine is the French teacher that first suggests Wes to work with Lacy and secondly becomes close to Bill, becoming somebody new in his life. Lacy is the student that is studying French, she is struggle and given Wes to try and help her, she is stuck in a household with an impending divorce, which sees her reacting, building a false reputation around the school.
Performances – J.K. Simmons in brilliant in the leading role of the film, he does show us just how distant somebody grieving can become. Josh Wiggins shines in the scenes with the biggest emotional impact. Julie Delpy and Odeya Rush fill the supporting roles very well too through the film too.
Story – The story here follows a father and son that move across country to try and put their lives back on track after the death of their wife and mother, they will need to deal with their own grieving process in a way that would push their own relationship to the limits, finding something new from other people in life. This story does address the pain losing somebody would have on a family, how learning to get over the grief isn’t going to be easy but finding the right people can help put you on the right path once again. This does show us just how dark the places can get and how much light can still be found in life no matter how much pain you could be going through.
Comedy – The comedy in the film is on the lighter side, we do focus more on the serious side of the grieving process, with the comedy breaking up those moments at times.
Settings – The film uses the settings to show us how the change is used to try and help the two move on life.
Scene of the Movie – Cross country race.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The supporting high school students are generic.
Final Thoughts – This is a drama that hits hard when it comes to dealing with the grief and how getting over it will take time no matter how hard things can be, with wonderful performances.
Overall: True Drama on Grief.
