Uncle Frank

Set largely in the fictional Creeksville, S.C., Uncle Frank was filmed around Wilmington, N.C., by a writer/director who grew up in Marietta, Ga. Alan Ball (American Beauty; HBO's True Blood) knows the South and the intensity of the familial bonds that shape its culture — and sometimes drive people to cut ties to free themselves. In this case, the escapee is gay, 40-something Frank (Paul Bettany), happily partnered with Wally (Peter Macdissi, HBO's Six Feet Under) in New York City while still telling his family he has a girlfriend.

It's 1972, and the point-of-view character is (mostly) Frank’s teenage niece, Beth (Sophia Lillis, It). Her uncle is her hero; his encouragement got her to attend college in New York City. When she drops in on a party at Frank’s place uninvited — a highly entertaining sequence, introducing Wally and dismissing Bruce, Beth’s duplicitous boyfriend — she learns Frank’s secret, but it only makes her admire him more.

So naturally when Frank has to drive back to South Carolina for a funeral, Beth rides along, and Wally finds a way to join them as well, getting ever closer to the inevitable reveal to Frank's family. The trip also stirs uncomfortable memories of Frank's first love, which have coalesced into a knot of guilt that threatens to wreck everything he holds dear.

Uncle Frank is a coming-out movie, a road movie, a coming-of-age movie (Beth's), a memory movie, and a family melodrama all rolled into one, and Ball makes some pleasingly unusual choices in each category. It's all grounded by a heartbreaking performance by Bettany, shrugging off his Avengers gloss to appear vulnerable and a bit smug. Lillis is charming, despite her underwritten character, and Macdissi manages to be both hard-edged and the film's comic relief. An A-list supporting cast also includes Judy Greer, Steve Zahn, Stephen Root, and the always amazing Margo Martindale, as Frank’s mom.

Ball has long been a wry observer of cultural quirks, and while there's a lot of drama in Uncle Frank, there's also a great deal of humor, especially in its road-trip segment. Then, once everyone's back at home, what had seemed for much of its length to be a condemnation of the South turns out to be a kind of love letter to Southern families — which may have their poisonous apples, like anywhere, but whose protective instincts can cut both ways.

Grade: A-minus. Available to stream starting Nov. 25 via Amazon Prime Video.

(Photo: Amazon Prime Video)