The Benefactor 2015

     Francis L. Watts also known as Franny is a wealthy philanthropist and he's traveling in a car with his friends Bobby and Mia.  Suddenly, they have an accident and Bobby and Mia are dead but Franny is alive.  The accident was Franny’s fault, he feels tremendous survivor guilt and he thinks he should’ve died instead.  Time passes and Franny is nearly a recluse.  He does visit the hospital he founded to visit the children on their ward.  Bobby and Mia had a daughter and her name is Olivia but Franny calls her Poodle.  Five years later after the accident, Olivia has married Luke and they are expecting a baby.  Olivia contacts Franny because she would like him to be a part of their baby’s life.  Franny begins to insert himself into every aspect of their family life.

     Richard Gere is a good actor but even he can’t carry this film!!  I didn’t understand the purpose for making this movie?  There needs to be one story instead of two.  There is the story of Olivia, her husband, a soon to be born baby and Franny.  There is also another story, about Franny and the guilt he carries plus the injuries he sustained in the car accident.  Together the stories don’t mix?  Franny is also a lot to take as one character.  Just because you're wealthy doesn’t mean you can do anything you want all the time??  How can we have empathy for Franny when he’s so difficult??     

93 min, Drama directed by Andrew Renzi with Richard Gere, Dakota Fanning, Theo James, Dylan Baker, Cheryl Hines, Brian Anthony Wilson, Tibor Feldman, Justin Goncalves, Dennisha Pratt, Matthew Daisher. 

Note:  Imdb 5.1 out of 10, 25% critic 23% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 1 ½*, Amazon 3* out of 5* with 245 reviews, Metacritic 40 out of 100 with 19 critics 5.1 out of 10 with 14 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The original title of this film was Franny.  There is a mistake by a physician about the name of the medication Franny is taking.