Affliction (1998)
Directed by Paul Schrader
A small town policeman must investigate a suspicious hunting accident. The investigation and other events result in him slowly disintegrating mentally.
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What critics compared Affliction to
That Tom's teenage son Jack (Ashton Holmes) has pit-bull instincts - the scene in which he suddenly attacks the school bully is genuinely shocking - actually presses the argument further that violence might be genetic, a theme that transfused Paul Schrader's sombre father-and-son picture, Affliction.
Every base is covered for a run at import: opening in the midst of a snowy Chicago winter, Road to Perdition even makes a play for the Oscar caveat of other films set in snowscapes, popular as a shorthand for credibility since the Coens' 1996 Fargo (and appearing since in films running the gamut from Ang Lee's brilliant The Ice Storm and Raimi's A Simple Plan to more uneven fare: Affliction , Snow Falling on Cedars, The Shipping News , and so on)--but shorthand is all it is, really (see also: the requisite shot of crossroads and liminal beaches).
…like Aster handed him a note that read, “Nick Nolte in Affliction but as a simpering beta cuck with asthma.”
Paddy Conlon is Nolte’s best part since Affliction.
Nolte’s investment in his troubled character easily matches that of his award-winning performance in Paul Schrader’s 1997 film “Affliction.”