Catching up with one of 2015's best films: Michael Almereyda's knockout EXPERIMENTER

TrustMovies has long had a soft spot for the films of Michael Almereyda, They're odd, certainly, but they've usually hit this viewer in ways that most other movies don't. His latest, EXPERIMENTER -- all about the life, career and experiments of behavioral scientist Stanley Milgram -- is, I wager, his best yet: the most accessible yet different of his entire oeuvre. The experience of viewing it is like sitting in on perhaps the best, most wonderful, rich and expansive high school or college class that you've ever taken: one that combines science, philosophy, behavior, ethics, and a whole lot more. Ever better, this writer/director (shown below) has expanded his own kit of moviemaking tools and tricks to include an array he's never offered up until now.

The result is a film that grabs us from the outset and hold us fast, as we meet Milgram (the always excellent Peter Sarsgaard. shown above, left, and below, right), his soon-to-be wife (the better-than-ever Winona Ryder, above, right, and below, left), and a host of subsidiary characters playing the helpers and participants in Milgram's notable experiments -- the most famous of which (from the 1960s) would be that little ditty in which folk were given instructions to shock their "partner" with increasing doses of electricity whenever a wrong answer was given until they were using enough "power" to render the recipient dead. A wide majority of these fine Americans (and later folk from other countries) willingly obliged -- making clear that the behavior of the Nazis during WWII (doing what they were told, no mater the consequence to other people) was maybe not so far afield from "normal" human behavior, depending on the circumstances. The results of his experiment did not make Milgram particularly popular among his peers (who earlier claimed nothing like this could ever happen) nor among the common folk who preferred to see themselves as, by nature, generally good and kind. More than anything else, I think, Milgram managed to puncture our deep-set capacity for hypocrisy and denial.

How Almereyda brings all this to fruition -- breaking the fourth wall, using an elephant out of nowhere and quite brilliantly, creating the 1960 and 70s with spot-on decor and often completely fake "theatrical" backgrounds, in the process making us understand and accept so much more than most movies even attempt -- educates us and entertain us in equal measure, giving insight into the life and mind of this quite special scientist and man.

In the fine and precisely-chosen supporting cast, a particular standout is Jim Gaffigan, above, playing one of the Milgram's most enjoyable "actor/helpers" in the experiment. From Magnolia Pictures, the movie got a limited theatrical release and some VOD play last year. It's now out on Blu-ray (the transfer looks spiffy indeed!), DVD and digital download. Do not miss it. (Having just watched it the other evening, I am adding it right now to my post on the Best and Most Underseen Movies of 2015. In fact, if TM had a list of "top ten" films, rather than "top 50," Experimenter would probably rest in that tier, too)

Difficult family dynamics, Japanese-style: Hirokazu Kore-eda's LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

The old switched-at-birth routine (Angel of Mine, The Other Son) gets an anything-but-routine telling via Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda's latest and maybe loveliest film, LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON. Even when his subjects grow as bizarre (an inflatable plastic doll come to life) or heart-breaking (how an abandoned family of children try to care for each other), as in After-Life and Air Doll, it's this film-maker's consistent ability to give us such real and specific behavior, in the midst of whatever kind of life is going on, that always seals the deal. Hirokazu (shown below) is the real thing and there is no one quite like him working in film today. His new movie -- a tear-jerker that earns the workout it will give your lacrimal sac -- does not disappoint.

The filmmaker is noted for the fine performances he seems to always get from his child actors, and he certainly does it again here, though he draws equally wonderful ones from the adults on hand. As Hirokazu has matured (he's 51 now), he seems more and more drawn to stories that resonant over generations and fairly wide-ranging themes -- from divorce and separa-tion to coming to terms with anger, forgiveness, parents who don't seem to care, even death.

In Like Father, Like Son, he is dealing with several of the above themes, as well as with the old nature-vs-nurture controversy, along with the workplace and class differences in a way that I have not noticed as strongly in his previous work. This makes his movie all the richer.

In the film, a workaholic dad (the marvelously subtle actor, Masaharu Yukuhama, above) -- who would seem, on the face of the first couple of scenes, to have a somewhat idyllic life with his lovely wife andchild -- learns that his son is not his biological flesh-and-blood, after all.

When the family finally meets the other family (above) who has raised its actual son, just as it has raised the other boy, it is clear that there is a huge difference here in everything from income to education. Most city-dwelling sophisticates will, I think, identity much more with the initial family, but Hirokazu doesn't let us off the hook nearly so easily. At first, the new family seems crass --particularly the father (above, left). But as the film flows along, this dad grows on us even more than does his wealthier counterpart.

The moms bond more easily, as women often do, I think, and even the two dads try their best. (The Japanese proclivity for civility seems so very helpful here.) What about the kids themselves? As usual, the filmmaker gets striking performances from the children (shown above and below), and we begin to see that in some ways, both sons are like fish out of water, while in other ways , they've adapted quite well.

But how will the parents adapt to all this? And what is the best way to proceed? This is key, and Hirokazu follows things along part of the way, until we understand that the dad with the biggest problem is at least trying. Will he make it all the way?  Time'll tell, and I'm glad that the filmmaker didn't tie up everything too neatly.

Instead he gives us that wonderfully real behavior, from all concerned. Watching this is a pleasure in its own right, but it also helps us follow and believe in the changes that occur, especially in our troubled company/family man.

From Sundance Selects and running two hours, Like Father, Like Son opens this Friday, January 17, in New York City at the IFC Center and Lincoln Plaza Cinema. The following Friday, January 24, it will open at Laemmle's Royal and Playhouse 7. The film will also be available nationwide on Sundance Selects’ video-on-demand platform, available to over 50 million homes in all major markets.