Nobel Son DVD Review

On June 9th, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release Nobel Son on DVD! The film features a stellar ensemble cast and crew directed by Randall Miller (Bottle Shock), including Golden Globe® winner Alan Rickman (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street), Bryan Greenberg (Bride Wars), Eliza Dushku (“Dollhouse”), Shawn Hatosy (“Southland”), Oscar®-winner Mary Steenburgen (Four Christmases), Bill Pullman, Ted Danson and Danny Devito.

Barkley Michaelson (Bryan Greenberg) is the 20 year old PhD student son of the brilliant Professor Eli Michaelson (Rickman). Eli has just won a Nobel Prize and he, his wife (Steenburgen), and Barkley are set to fly to Sweden to collect his award. The morning of the flight, Barkley is late returning home because of an overnight rendezvous with the beautiful and slightly deranged “City” Sharon Hall (Dushku). Unwilling to wait, Eli insists they leave without hime.

After he catches a cab and returns home to find no one there, Barkley is clubbed over the head and tied up by Thaddeus James (Shawn Hatosy). Thaddeus tells Barkley a story about how is mother and Eli had an affair and Eli stole the information in his award-winning work from his “father”. He proceeds to call Eli to ask for a $2 million ransom. Initially Eli doesn’t take the call seriously, so Thaddeus sends a thumb to show that he is serious.

Upon their return home, Eli and his wife work with the police to find their son. What ensues is a clever, witty and intelligent battle for the $2 million ransom. A dysfunctional family learns more about itself than it ever wanted to. Nobel son is full of lust, betrayal, greed, revenge, and much more emotionally charged humorous drama. It is an offbeat and surprisingly entertaining movie with a great cast. Rickman is underrated as a classic older actor. Hatosy and Greenberg do well in their leading roles. Dushku is a favorite. An all-around nice film.

DVD Review by Neil of Movie Room Reviews