Nowhere Special Parent Guide

John (James Norton) is facing a terrible decision. The devoted single father is terminally ill and is seeking a new family for his pre-school aged son. Rather than have Michael (Daniel Lamont) fall into the foster care system, John wants to be sure his son is adopted by hand-picked parents before his death.

John has a working-class background and has a job as a window cleaner. He takes pride in his work but he wants more for his son. As social workers take him to visit approved couples, John is on the lookout for parents who can offer what he missed in his own unstable childhood. But as the process continues, John starts to question his ability to make such a momentous decision. And he argues with the social workers who want him to prepare Michael for his demise: the child is far too young to have his life clouded with thoughts of death, John insists. Eventually he realizes that Michael is more aware than he expects…

Nowhere Special is a gut-wrenching film but there’s no denying that it’s a beautifully made one. I have nothing but praise for everyone involved in the production. James Norton, as always, delivers a stellar performance, embodying John’s anger, grief, determination, dignity, and fierce love for his son. He’s a difficult actor to overshadow, but young Daniel Lamont pulls it off. I was stunned that a preschool-aged actor could deliver such a natural, believable performance. Given his age, this is also a tribute to director Uberto Pasolini: working with a very young actor requires accommodating the child’s needs and capabilities (not to mention naptime). Even the secondary actors are excellent – all of them feel real, from the sincere social workers to the hopeful adoptive parents. This film is an example of superb ensemble work and deserves credit for that achievement.

The acting is the icing on the cake for this fine movie. The script is excellent, and negative content is limited to a handful of sexual expletives and a few (understandable) angry outbursts. Also lovely is the cinematography: it’s spare and poignant, lingering on the little things – a child walking to school, a father and son at a soccer game, a boy with Lego – that remind John of everything he will miss with his son.

Based on the trailer alone, I knew that Nowhere Special would be a multi-Kleenex movie. I wondered how long it would take before the tears started and the answer was an hour – at the sixty-minute mark I was well and truly ugly-crying, with big fat tears rolling down my cheeks and a pile of soggy Kleenex next to me. If you don’t like weepy movies, this isn’t for you. But if you like thoughtful, genuine films that deliver heartfelt emotion, then you will find that Nowhere Special is, in fact, something special.