“Being Flynn” is a well-meaning, well-acted but uneven dramedy based on real-events. It stars Paul Dano and Academy Award-winner Robert DeNiro in the lead roles of a young aspiring writer who finally meets up with his estranged, homeless father after years apart. Directed by Paul Weitz (“American Pie” and “In Good Company” among others), it’s based on the experiences of writer Nick Flynn. Downbeat but earthy, the film’s mildly sarcastic tone is a little off-putting, and it’s hard to relate to many of the characters, and it’s largely misdirected by Weitz, better known for more mainstream comedies. DeNiro is the long lost father, and while his performance isn’t anything new or revealing (this could be a revisionist, less violent version of his “Taxi Driver” character), he and Dano share a handful of good scenes together. The underused, underwritten Julianne Moore lovingly appears in flashbacks as Flynn’s mother, and the real Flynn’s girlfriend, the vastly underrated Lili Taylor (always good) plays a co-worker here. “Being Flynn” is a mediocre attempt to show how two people who are related can be markedly different but alike at the same time. Much like an actor miscast in a role, “Being Flynn” shows what happens when the director isn’t well-suited to the material.
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