David Pierdomenico
There are many examples of films successfully blending two different genres, particularly ones that usually don’t go together. The Dark Knight blended superhero with gritty crime thriller, Pan’s Labyrinth blended dark fantasy and horror with historical drama, and From Dusk Till Dawn blended crime thriller with vampire horror. Each of these films were unique and utilized their genre crossing status in brilliant ways. Kin, on the other hand, is not one of these films.
Initially Promising
Kin opens by portraying the bleak home life of Eli (Myles Truitt) as he’s been suspended from school and reprimanded by his father (Dennis Quaid), who fears that he may be too much like his older brother. Soon after, said brother Jimmy (Jack Reynor) comes home after a several year stint in prison for a theft charge. To say that things in the house are tense would be an understatement. Jimmy wants to assimilate back into society, but his father is especially critical of him, and to complicate matters, he still owes money to a local gangster Taylor (James Franco) for protection he got while in prison. Franco does a decent job, but it’s hard to take him seriously sometimes, probably because audiences are so used to seeing him in comedies. His gang also pulls off feats that seem very unrealistic.
Right off the bat, the film demonstrates great potential. It sets up Eli and Jimmy as estranged brothers, both from different races, as Eli was adopted. We see through the worn and weary face of their father that he’s a man of principle who values truth and honor. But he feels like he failed with Jimmy, and refuses to do the same with Eli. Additionally, we feel Jimmy’s dilemma as he wants to repair his relationship with his father and little brother, but also must worry about coughing up enough money for Taylor and his gang, or they might come after his family in addition to him. The story that it sets up is well crafted and has all the makings of a good drama/crime thriller. Where the film begins to get lost, is when it introduces science fiction.
Inconsistent Tone
Early on in the film, Eli discovers a futuristic ray gun in an abandoned building. As he and Jimmy go on the road, he uses his new weapon to their advantage in several difficult situations. The issue is not that he makes this discovery. It’s that the entire sci-fi element feels out of place. The twist of finding the ray gun worked in the original short film Bag Man, on which Kin is based. It worked there because it’s only ten minutes long, and the revelation of the futuristic weapon served as an intriguing plot twist at the end. But in Kin, Eli finds it at the very beginning, and while he uses it a few times, very little is explained about it. We get something very brief towards the end, but it doesn’t feel like enough to justify the audience’s suspension of disbelief.
Brotherly Love
By far the strongest aspect of the film is the dynamic between Eli and Jimmy. Jack Reynor delivers a great performance as a convict and occasional idiot who chose crime out of desperation, but underneath has a heart of gold. He wants to be closer to his brother and father, but feels like he’s screwed up so many times that he doesn’t deserve it. In some ways, he’s reminiscent of Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad. Eli feels out a place, particularly in being an adopted African American living in a Caucasian family. He also wants to bond with this brother, whom he never really got to know growing up. Some of the best scenes involve the two of them on the road simply getting to know one another for the first time.
Overall, Kin is by no means a bad film. It’s thoughtful and decently entertaining. It just feels like the sci-fi element is out of place. Had more of the plot been devoted to it, or even if the film switched to full sci-fi in its second or third act, it would have made more sense. Either way, it’s still an interesting concept whose execution simply wasn’t on point.
