The Glass Castle

An unconventional story bent into an all-too-familiar shape, The Glass Castle lacks the light touch of director/co-writer Destin Daniel Cretton's previous picture Short Term 12. Based on Jeannette Walls's memoir and unfolding partly in flashback, it shows the four Walls siblings growing up under the chaotic rule of a maverick patriarch (played by Woody Harrelson) who favours adventure over education but prioritises alcohol above everything else. Brie Larson plays the adult Jeannette, a gossip columnist hiding her conflicted feelings about her nomadic, impoverished upbringing behind the trappings of wealth. Naomi Watts is her drippy artist mother - wedded to her canvas, neglectful of her children. The narrative serves up carefully balanced helpings of tears and laughter, showing a deep understanding of the father-daughter bond and the sometimes twisted roots of family. Larson and Harrelson are typically gutsy and the child actors (including Ella Anderson as the young Jeannette) impress. Sadly a conclusion of thunderous sentimentality leaves things on a crass note.