'Being Flynn' exists to confound

Paul Dano, left, and Robert De Niro star in 'Being Flynn,' based on playwright/poet Nick Flynn's 2004 memoir. The film opens in New York and L.A. today. (Credit: David Lee, Focus Features)

Robert De Niro has made several unwise choices in roles recently, and his belligerent wannabe writer in Being Flynn (* * out of four, rated R, opens Friday in New York and L.A.) definitely adds to that list.

His last effort was last fall's dismal New Year's Eve, and before that were Killer Elite (2011), Everybody's Fine (2009) and Righteous Kill (2008).

Here, De Niro plays Jonathan Flynn, a miserable guy with delusions of grandeur and no redeeming qualities. That in itself is not necessarily the cinematic kiss of death. It might have made for an intriguing character had he been more fully fleshed out.

But he's over-the-top and one-dimensional, and his interactions with his hipster son Nick never ring true. This is particularly odd given that the film is based on playwright/poet Nick Flynn's 2004 memoir.

Director Paul Weitz, who did a wonderful job helming Nick Hornby's novel About a Boy in 2002, began adapting Flynn's book for the screen eight years ago. It's too bad that he didn't figure out in the ensuing years that it was not worth his efforts.

The movie's highlight is the original music by Badly Drawn Boy (British singer/songwriter Damon Gough), who also did the score for About a Boy.

Nick (Paul Dano) is shaken when his long-absent father, Jonathan, casually reappears in his life. Brimming with narcissism and bigotry, Jonathan has little to offer in the way of fatherly affection. De Niro gives a rambunctious and ranting, though caricatured, performance as a cab driver full of grandiose notions. He continually brags to his son about a masterpiece he claims to be writing. The viewer never really gets a sense of what makes Jonathan so egotistical and cruel to his son. Alcohol is involved, and probably mental illness, but there is no back story presented.

And Nick's tale doesn't add up, either. Flashbacks reveal he had a loving mother (Julianne Moore). Then, when he gets close to adulthood, she inexplicably checks out. There's no hint of addiction, trauma or mental illness, but out of nowhere she inflicts the worst possible pain. No doubt Flynn's real-life story was far more complex. Why would Weitz stint on providing motivation and key personal details when dealing with such dire circumstances?

Spurred on by Denise (Olivia Thirlby), a girl he's attracted to, the sad-faced Nick takes a job at a homeless shelter, his daily ministrations cataloged in a strangely jaunty montage. One day his father walks in.

Coping with a homeless parent is an intriguing topic, as is the complexity of forgiving someone who has caused pain but is feeling it even more acutely. Then there are the fears of becoming like one's troubled parent, fueled by Jonathan's tirades: "You are me! I made you!"

Nick grapples with his own addiction problems, which are quickly dispensed with as the film flashes forward and poetry offers his salvation.

Being Flynn dishes out plenty of misery, but never satisfies by delving beneath the surface.

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