‘Nowhere Special’ Review: James Norton Is Superb In Touching Father And Son Drama That Won’t Leave A Dry Eye In The House
Every week it seems there are large numbers of indie and specialty releases vying for attention, impossible to do them all, so when the option of reviewing Nowhere Special was placed in front of me I resisted at first after discovering it actually premiered at the 2020 Venice Film Festival. That’s right, four years ago. I had to wonder what could possibly be good about a film delayed for that long in terms of getting a U.S. release date? Finally caving in to the persistent requests by the distributor and its passionate PR team, I decided to check it out. What I discovered was not that this was some sort of troubled film, not even close. Instead I found a spare but moving drama, powered by a remarkable lead performance, that is all about life and death and all things inbetween. At its heart it is also an inspiring story of dedicated parent and child, how we face the uncertain future, and what we leave behind. Nowhere Special is something special indeed. If you aren’t shedding well-earned tears by the end of this film you simply are not human.