Wildlife                 3 ½ stars

One type of movie I like to find are the dramas set in small rural towns in the West, South or Midwest. Usually these films feature characters who face bleak prospects and have troubling family problems. Set in 1960 rural Montana, Wildlife fits that description well. It’s about a young couple, Jerry and Jeannette (Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan) and their teenage son Joe (Ed Oxenbould) who have recently moved to town and are struggling financially. Then Jerry loses his job at the country club, so Jeannette and Joe have to pitch in with low paying jobs. In a seemingly desperate act, Jerry volunteers to help fight the forest fires that are ravaging the area for little pay. Of course Jeannette is outraged at the decision, but can do little to change Jerry’s mind. It is here that the film takes a dark turn as Jeannette meets a local wealthy man (Bill Camp) on her job at the YMCA and begins to see him outside of work. She also enlists 14 year old son Joe in the affair by not hiding anything from him. The acting from Oxenbould and Mulligan is excellent and the representations of 1960 America in the cinematography is spot on. The actions that Jeannette and Jerry take often seem unrealistic contributing to an uneven tone throughout the movie.