MovieChat Forums > Father of Invention (2011) Discussion > Phew... some seriously annoying characte...

Phew... some seriously annoying characters!

posted 13 years ago by edmondoster
16 replies | jump to latest

The character of Kevin Spacey's daughter was UNBEARABLE!!!
The movie wanted to show Kevin's character as unbearable...
but his daughter's character in the movie succeeded more in being unbearable!

I have no qualms against the actress portraying her... She may be a very good actress, I don't know. But the character she portrays is (again) unbearable!!!

What sort of daughter disrespects her father like that, continually???
There are, maybe, like 2 scenes in the film where she's nice to her Father, the rest of the time she's always insulting him! And even when she's being nice, it doesn't come of anyway close to being 'nice'...

I've seen-- I say this sadly-- some REAL HORRIBLE Father-figures around me--
and understand this; even when some of these horrible father figures really DID deserve to be treated rudely and unsympathetically by their sons or dauthters-- some sons and daughters have still NOT treated their parents that way. Yes; these sons and daughters chose not to be that way.

Kevin Spacey's character did mistakes-- who doesn't (was the mother's character significantly better? important point to consider actually...)?
But the director/writer(s) of the film trying to show us that that is what 'allows' or 'approves' the type of behavior his daughter treats him (Kevin) with?
BOGUS BULL, of the lowest kind.

--- The other totally UNBEARABLE character was of her lesbian friend-- portrayed by Heather Graham. Very rarely do we see a character try SO very hard-- and so very unconvincingly-- to show that she is a RUDE lesbian ball-kicker-- that she actually needed to do it physically to some other character.
If it's the problem of how that character is written or portrayed
I know not to point.

Kevin's character did not deserve that kind of treatment (from his child, not talking about his 'customers')-- not Father/mother -- parent-- deserves that kind of treatment-- or, at-least, Kevin's character didn't, for very one big one.

Ok. Said my mind.
Commentators? Welcome. Write nicely. I'll write nicely back.
It's ok to agree/disagree without being rude trolls.
Everyone reaps what they sow, eventually.

[–] finks13 13 years ago

thank god! i was hoping that someone else would agree. I could not stand those characters and also the wife. I ended up feeling bad for spacey just because the other characters were so terrible!!!

[–] ergye 13 years ago

I give you a clue: Feminism.

[–] edmondoster 13 years ago

A clue? Feminism? Huh?
So, are you saying Feminism stands for treating your
Father (because of whom you're alive in the first place)
like utter crap-- mainly, after that Father just came to
visit you after being long (and logically-presumably) hard years
in prison?
Or is Feminism automatically attributed to Heather Graham's character because she's flat-out-rude in her behavior and kicks other characters in their groins?

I was kinda sure Feminism stood for something else entirely...

[–] docsae-klaus 13 years ago

I fully agree whit you, the father was treated like he commited mass murder! I just couldn't graspt why he was treated that badly by his EX, her daughter, and that bitchy friend of hers, he's only mistake (wich i think was humbug), erased all his accomplishments (he made around 700milion dollars). And to top it all off, his EX spends all the remaining fortune on vanity, and nobody is mad at her?? Why isn't she treated in the same manner? I really expected a good film, and I thought it would be a tale of a Father recovering from failure trough the support of his daughter if not entire fammily. I really wanted to punch the EX, and the lesbian... but I felt sorry for the monitor hahahaha

[–] Hurry_up_N_buy 13 years ago

OP (and those who agree) I don't think you all fully understood what the movie was trying to show, because i didn't either at first.. and I felt the same way as some of you...

basically my interpretation:

---------spoilers ahead--------

When he first comes home he's old, somber, and 'broken' and hasn't got a dime or a friend yet still these people (including his ex-wife and his old partner that works at family mart) treat him like dirt and spit on him

[so the viewer is thinking "wow.. that's f'd up how their doing this old broken man, why?"]

but then he has a little epiphany in the form of the "watch-dog" idea and slowly but surely he becomes ridiculously ambitious all over again to the point where he's sneakin into the old folks home, going behind the ex-wife's back (to borrow money from new husband) and finally he even swipes the roommates credit card to get the $5,000 loan. small scheme-like things to get what he wants

[so now the viewer is supposed to be thinking along the lines of "OHHH THATS why they were being so harsh in the beginning, he's done these types of things before and probably to a WORSE degree" seeing as how he was younger and more ambitious]

he basically pulled a Gordon Gekko Wall Street 2

it was all poorly done, especially with some of the crazy antics they through into his character but ehhh

i give it a 4/10

[–] Hurry_up_N_buy 13 years ago

oh and the Heather Graham character was supposed to be an unconvincing lesbian

she was acting over the top because she wanted people to believe when she didn't even truly believe it herself

even the male ex-boyfriend pointed said "you don't even know who you are" in reference to her coming from a hetero relationship and then claiming lesbo... and then there's the fact that she was genuinely attracted Spacey's character

I hope I don't sound as if i'm defending this below average movie, I just kinda understand what they were ATTEMPTING to convey

[–] edmondoster 13 years ago

Ok, thanks for your interpretation, buddy, sgl goodfella.
It is interesting to consider.
I agree and understood some of the points (by the director/writers)--
and what they were trying to show about the other (not Spacey's) characters...

However, I still somewhat feel the lack of sympathy-to-flat-out-rudeness towards a parent returning-- almost from a sort of exile-- is just plain un-natural and plain weird, to name only a few. It's as if the other characters are in robot-mode... it's just not human to act like that, I think. I know many-many wouldn't-- despite Spacey's 'questionable' character...

But, anyway, thanks for your answer/interpretation.
It does help looking at it from a different angle.

[–] ScootFla 13 years ago

I don't know what part of the world you live in, but if you don't witness parents being terrible to their children or vice versa, then you're in some sort of Shang-ri-la that has yet to be touched by domestic violence (verbal or physical).

I live in central Florida and there isn't a week that goes by in the Tampa/Orlando area where parents are treated like filth or kids the same.

Heck, it is Florida after all - where kids dump their fathers and mothers in
nursing homes posing as golf courses or "retirement centers" (the fancy name they have now), only to drive back up north to Ohio, Michigan, or New York so
they can make the excuses to never visit.

The world is a sad place where religion, faith, race, politics, and now even familial differences divide people. Humanity is not as much as a factor as you think with the decisions people make...they're only looking out for themselves and what makes them happy. That's the family and even Kevin Spacey's character in this movie.

In my opinion, the dysfunctional family story worked very well in a movie like "The Ref" (years ago, with Denis Leary), but it was clumsily and uncomfortably done with "Father Of Invention".

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Timira_Guha 12 years ago

I absolutely HATED Heather Graham's character!!!!!!!!
I felt like punching HER a couple hundred timesssss

[–] Xcalat3 12 years ago

I agree, some very unlikable and annoying characters. specially the daughter and Heather Grahams character.

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

[–] liplip 12 years ago

For me that little story arc of the Heather Graham character and Kevin Spacey slowly becoming friends was actually the best part.

[–] super16g 12 years ago

The daughter didn't bother me as much as Heather Graham's fake lesbian act.

[–] thepartydjz 12 years ago

The entire plot line was contrived. After the 1st hour I realized that this was force feeding the idea that Axel was disliked by family, ex-friends, and everyone else, OKAY, I get it, no need to pound it in again ever 30 seconds.

The worst was when they were playing the board game and his ex-wife states a fake question in the game, something about his career taking off when he was younger and ignoring his family, she couldn't even look serious when she said the line, then the daughter runs off and cries, "How could you do that to us". OMG total crap, 4th grade style writing.

I'm sorry I wasted my time, watching this crap was one insult after another to the viewer.

[–] laststand2014 10 years ago

It was a shame Spacey had to be corraled into this crap.

[–] jlgriffin61 9 years ago

The board game scene and the girl crying was not the daughter, that was the roommate. The reason they all went over there was to cheer the roommate up because her parents were getting a divorce, then the ex-wife posed that question which was not only immature but referenced the roommate's parent's divorce. The roommate's parent's were married for 30 yrs then her dad cheated, so the first part of the ex-wife's hypothetical question was in reference to them and then the second part was in reference to her and Mr. Axle.

In reference to the OP, the treatment of Mr. Axle by his daughter made sense to me. While Axle always loved his daughter and provided a home for her etc, he also was not around or active in her life much when she was little because he was always working and more interested in material things. On top of that, it is insinuated that the mother influenced the daughter while he was away in prison, thus upon his return, Claire did not trust him nor accept him with open arms. It may not be right but it made perfect sense to me. I see this happen all the time, especially with single mothers, they'll bad talk the child's father which then influences the child's perception of their father, if not ruin their relationship altogether.