Tetro (2009) R

Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now) is back with his best film since The Godfather: Part III. This film isn't Godfather material by any means, but Coppola fans should be satisfied with Tetro. It's in black and white for the majority of the film, and it's in Spanish half the time. That will shew away most people. This film stars Vincent Gallo (Buffalo '66, The Brown Bunny), as Tetro. For the most part, we follow 18-year-old Bennie (Alden Ehrenreich), Tetro's brother. They haven't spoken to each other in almost a decade. Tetro now lives in Argentina with his wife Miranda, played by Maribel Verdu (Y tu mama tambien). Bennie, who was in the military, is now AWOL. He's passing through Argentina on a cruise ship, where he now works. He decides to visit his brother Angelo, who calls himself Tetro. There are many dark secrets that the three are withholding from each other.

There is friction early on between Tetro and Bennie. Bennie wants answers for Tetro's disappearance all those years ago. Tetro left Bennie and their father, who's a famous composer, to go on a writing sabbatical. He promised to come back and get Bennie. Over time, Tetro fell off the grid, and became borderline insane. After meeting Miranda, he put his past life of writing, and obsessing over his past behind him. He refuses to talk about his past with Bennie. They have their good days and more often, their bad days together. Bennie discovers Tetro's writings in a suitcase one day and begins to translate them. Miranda knows very little about their background and Bennie enlightens her. Tetro finds out about it, and goes irate and kicks Bennie out. The night before returning to his cruise ship, Bennie gets hit by a car and is hospitalized. Tetro warms up to his brother out of sympathy.

Tetro soon finds out about Bennie translating his writings and wants nothing to do with him. Something is eating Tetro up inside but he won't spill it. Bennie turns his writings into a play and gives it an ending, which it didn't have. The play is based on his relationship with his father. It becomes a hit but Tetro wants it shut down. Secrets and lies get out into the open and Bennie's world get shattered. These secrets change everything.

There are a couple scenes that should've been cut and some conflict could've been added. The flashbacks are very effective but they're few, and far between. The visuals are breathtaking at times and the storyline is a good one. However, this film is not very entertaining. It will probably bore most people to sleep. If you like a good Coppola family drama than it's worth a watch, but otherwise stay away.
C