– to provide no answers to its big questions? Yes. But according to its stars Laura Dern and Hugh Jackman, that’s its point. Sometimes there aren’t answers. Sometimes love isn’t enough.is based on Zeller’s stage play of the same name, part of a trilogy of plays about mental health that includes. Dern and Jackman play Kate and Peter, divorced parents of Nicholas , a 17-year-old struggling with depression and suicidal ideation.
“We get no ‘why’ Nicholas is depressed,” Jackman agrees. “Florian is uncompromising about that. As parents, Kate and Peter feel guilt, shame, ignorance. They feel it’s their fault, the divorce, something they did or didn’t do. But with mental health issues, we don’t know ‘why.’ As a society, we’re in the early stages of trying to understand them. We wanted to show the process without providing easy answers, and for the characters to live in that state.
“Whatever our upbringing is, we bring those pains, scars, joys and lessons into our parenting,” Jackman says. He recalls how once, when he asked for advice, his father replied, “You praise your kids too much.” That obviously still stings. “A bunch of things came up during this film,” he adds. “It was a very emotional time.”
These 2 versatile actors have shown impressive range. They would probably also excel in a dramatic play on stage. Such fine actors!