Papadopoulos & Sons
I saw Papadopoulos & Sons at the newly renovated Maple Theater, as part of the Gathr film series, which I have posted about before. The trailer looked interesting and I was excited to see the movie. Although the film had some slow parts throughout, and the gist of the story ("prince becomes pauper") has been done before, in other forms, the film was still very cute, and overall I enjoyed it.
Harry Papadopoulos (Stephen Dillane) has come a long way from his humble beginnings, and he's now a millionaire who owns a food business and is making plans to build Papadopoulos Plaza. However, when the stock market takes a turn, he loses everything, and soon he and his three kids are about to be homeless. However, the government can't seize an asset he still co-owns with his brother, Spiros (Georges Corraface): their old "3 Brothers" fish and chips shop. The shop has a two-bedroom apartment above it, as well, and Spiros suggests that Harry and his kids live there and that they re-open the shop to make some money; Harry is reluctant, but has no other choice, so he agrees. They'll soon learn the value of family, as well as what it really means to be an entrepreneur and work for a living - and, oddly enough, they might even end up enjoying themselves in the process.
I really liked Stephen Dillane (The Hours, Spy Game) as the main character - he has a deadpan expression in most scenes that was great. His kids, too, also worked well with him - Katie (Georgia Groome), James (Frank Dillane, his actual son), and the adorable Theo (Thomas Underhill), the youngest boy who has a penchant for trading and buying stocks - and is quite good at it, too. These actors had good chemistry together as the Papadopoulos family, and that's partially why the movie succeeds as a whole.
Yes, see this film, but be aware it might be hard to find. Amazon's UK site is currently selling the DVD, but I'm not sure how much shipping would be. You can also check on Gathr's website to see if they are screening the film near you, and keep an eye on the film's official site to see if it will be screening locally at some point; the site says screenings will commence in October, but I know Gathr has already screened it in some cities, including my screening. The movie was a bit slow in some parts, but I still recommend seeing it, so keep an eye on the links and hopefully it will be brought to the U.S. sometime soon.
Papadopoulos & Sons is not yet rated, and has a runtime of 109 minutes. 3.5 stars out of 5.
*Disclosure: I received free screening tickets to see this movie from Gathr Films. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.
