“Finestkind,” the name of both Brian Helgeland’s new film and the high-line fishing boat Tommy Lee Jones captains within it, is one of those words that New Englanders find hard to define, but seem …
) were born to different dads. Ben’s had a falling out with his father , a salty Texas transplant who describes himself as “that son of a bitch Ray Eldridge everyone tries to steer clear of.” Ray’s a cantankerous old soul, but he wants Ben to have his boat. Meanwhile, Charlie has no interest in becoming like his lawyer dad, Dennis , who married the brothers’ mom and moved her to the nice part of town.
The movie makes a bigger deal of class than Charlie himself does. He grew up with privileges that Ben didn’t, and yet, Charlie idolizes his older brother, begging to accompany him on a fishing trip. “I’m curious about me,” he tells Ben. But their bonding experience is cut short when something explodes in the engine room and Ben’s boat sinks. Reunited at last, the siblings’ first outing together was nearly their last.
Helgeland takes that goal seriously, which is admirable — the opposite of the view so many Hollywood movies preach that the only freedom kids in dead-end communities can find is leaving town for the New York or Los Angeles. Charlie wants to work with his hands, and on that aforementioned trip into Canadian waters, “Finestkind” finally hits its stride.
Foster is always great, coming across more mellow here than in films such as “Hell or High Water,” whose director, Taylor Sheridan, is one of this project’s producers. Wallace, who plays Charlie, appears in three films premiering in the span of one week on the fall festival circuit: “The Bikeriders,” “The Royal Hotel” and now this. He plays very different characters in each, though it’s clear from all three that he’s a star in the making.
In Charlie’s case, that tenderness is brought out by a local girl, Mabel , who’s mixed up with drug dealers, but wants to go to community college. The morning after these two hook up, the film sends them racing across town in her Volkswagen — a clunky scene, but one that sticks with you, as it’s one of several moments when the characters really come alive. Other beats are more obvious, as when Ray reveals that he has cancer, which gives him enough slack to be reckless .
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