Forger,The

Single parent/sick child family drama cum caper movie, The Forger takes us into familiar genre territory. The literal territory is working class Boston and specifically the Cutter family. Gramps (Christopher Plummer) is an old time con artist, who is looking after his grandson (Tye Sheridan), who has cancer.  Dad (John Travolta), the forger of the title, is in the can but makes a crooked deal to get out so that he can be with his dying son. But to do so he agrees to forge Monet's "The Promenade, Woman with a Parasol" and then to steal the real painting and replace it with the fake so that no one will ever suspect a thing. Meanwhile an undercover DEA agent (Abigail Spencer) is on his trail.

The Forger scripted by screenwriter Richard D'Ovidio and director Philip Martin is a glib recycling of familiar filmic elements. They adopt a winningly low key approach but at no stage attempt to seriously engage us with the situation in which we have been placed.  From opening to closing shot. the narrative unfolds with breathtaking ease. The premise seems to be that if you’ve enjoyed it before you’ll enjoy it again, which as it turns out is entirely wrong when it is put together this facilely.

The only saving grace is that Travolta and Plummer have enough style to carry off the sentimental package (as has Sheridan is in his own way with his formulaic character). The Forger isn’t exactly bad (although the ending comes close), it just doesn’t add anything to what we already know.

Available from: Becker Group

 

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