For Ellen

Director: So Yong Kim
Screenwriters: So Yong Kim

Institute History

Description

After an overnight long-distance drive, Joby (Paul Dano) has a special meeting—with lawyers and his ex-wife. A struggling musician with the prerequisite tattoos, slimy hair, goatee, and his head firmly floating in the clouds, Joby hasn’t been around to be a dad. Now is his last chance to fight for shared custody of his daughter, Ellen.

Writer/director So Yong Kim takes this traditional situation and fills it with humanism. Joby becomes a fascinating character study—a wannabe rock star now turned into a human being—forced to care about something other than his dreams. Kim’s subtle filmmaking style captures real life and conveys emotion in both funny and touching ways. Dano takes a character we are used to laughing at and makes him genuine, completely immersing us in Joby’s journey to respectability, even though he may not make it there.


(Archives note: see also So Yong Kim's Meet The Artist interview on our YouTube Channel.)

— Mike Plante

Screening Details

Credits

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