A 2016 Canadian dramedy film, written and directed by Bob Nelson and starring Clive Owen and Jaeden Martell. The supporting cast includes Maria Bello, Robert Forster, Tim Blake Nelson, Patton Oswalt, and Matthew Modine.
Walt (Owen), a divorced carpenter and struggling alcoholic, has just gotten his first big job in a long time, and is taking care of his son Anthony (Martell) for the weekend before Anthony's first communion and confirmation. Right away, Walt's tools – which he needs for his new job – are stolen. He and Anthony go around, trying to find out who took the tools and get them back, in the process exploring their father-son bond and getting into quite a bit of trouble.
Contains examples of:
- Addled Addict: Drake turns out to be high on meth while he's helping them look for the tools.
- Adorably Precocious Child: Both Anthony and Vaughn's son Allen do have some moments of sneakiness, but overall embody this trope in appearances and personality (such as when Anthony talks about his concerns about "Eating Jesus" at the communion).
- Alcoholic Parent: Walt has troubles with alcohol, although he tries to stay sober around his son. Allen also mentions that Vaughn is passed out drunk at one point.
- All-Loving Hero: Anthony cries over the death of a cricket and apologies to Allen for shoving him after thinking his dad was the thief.
- Angry Guard Dog: Subverted, a woman who mistakes Walt for a burglar claims to have one, and they run when they hear barking, but really she's just playing a recording.
- The Atoner: It's eventually revealed Anthony blames himself for the tools being stolen (due to leaving them unguarded for a while), which drives a lot of what he does to try and recover them.
- Be as Unhelpful as Possible: Done deliberately when Vaughn sets Walt up to be helped by Drake, who is utterly unqualified to help him, in order to cover for Roger.
- Best Friend: Anthony and Allen seem to develop into this across the movie.
- Big Brother Bully: Vaughn's older son, towards Allen.
- Blunt "Yes": When Walt sees the paltry collection of tools Kyle owns, he dismisses them as "toys" and asks "where did he get these, the dollar store?" Anthony replies "yep!"
- Brick Joke: One of the first scene has Anthony making a confession to a priest and having almost nothing to say, to the point where the man accuses him of holding back. The end of the movie, just a day or two later, has him giving a Long List of the stuff he's done with his father as the same priest listens in shock.
- By-the-Book Cop: The Police officer who pulls them over for supposedly being prowlers is pretty strict, although she does let them go with just a ticket.
- Cloudcuckoolander: As they interrogate suspects from a seemingly random list Drake has, it becomes clear he has a few screws loose.
- Coming of Age Story: A major focus is the tween Anthony maturing and witnessing harsh realities about the world.
- Cool Old Guy: Walt's elderly friend Otto, one of the nice characters in the movie, who works to explain to Anthony what he is father is going through.
- Corrupt the Cutie: Corrupt is a strong word, but the filmmakers describe the movie as an experience in having perfectly nice and innocent kid spending a weekend breaking laws and commandments while still not fundamentally changing.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: It quickly becomes apparent that the story would have been solved a lot easier if Anthony had mentioned seeing Vaughn and Allen outside the tavern right before the tools were stolen.
- Disc-One Final Boss: the actual theif is an out of shape guy who is deeply apologetic and doesn't put up a fight, at which point the conflict comes from trying to retrieve the tools from the pawnshop owner he sold the tools to.
- Dork in a Sweater: Bonnie's new husband Kyle is frequently described as a "Putz", making insincere small talk and having poor taste in architecture, and wears a sweater.
- Exact Words: Anthony tells his father that there isn't a bottle of alcohol in the closet -because he'd just moved it into a dresser drawer.
- Extremely Short Timespan: Takes place over one weekend.
- Foreshadowing: During Anthony's confession at the beginning the only sin he can think of is telling a lie (about liking his mom's cookies) and he ends up telling quite a few more throughout the movie.
- Guile Hero: Anthony turns into one throughout the movie, such as when he hears the kid of one suspect claim that a man named Roger stole the tools, and goes in to visit his father, saying;Anthony: That's not what Roger said. Roger said Vaughn stole your tools.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Anthony has blue eyes and is a fairly likable character.
- Mistaken for Racist: Drake mentions this happened once after he logged onto a Neo-Nazi website when he was really just trying to find a recipe for German pancakes.
- Nice to the Waiter: When Walt stops to look at a trellis he helped carve, the woman who owns the place calls the police and runs him and Anthony off without even giving them a chance to explain.Walt: I worked on that hosue for a week and she didn't even remember me.
- Off the Wagon: Walt is badly suffering from alcohol withdrawal.
- Reckless Gun Usage: Vaughn lets his children carry guns around, although he gets annoyed when they use them dangerously and recklessly.
- Reformed Criminal: Otto has them talk to a former tool theif who "found Jesus" who in turn directs them to Vaughn.
- The Scapegoat: Walt pretends to be Kyle when he's pulled over by a cop, and gets a ticket in Kyle's name.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: The two brothers who Walt, Anthony and Drake go see, one of whom is belligerent and threatens them with a gun while the other is fairly nice, understanding and doesn't even seem mad at Drake.
- Villainy-Free Villain: The pawnshop owner (and to a lesser extent, his assistant) is treated as an antagonistic figure, and he's certainly dismissive of Walt's plight. At the same time, Walt can't actually prove that the tools are his, and few people would turn over hundreds of dollars worth of tools to a complete stranger based on a sob story.
- Whole-Plot Reference: To Bicycle Thieves, another film about an impoverished father trying to recover stolen property that he needs for his new job, while being accompanied by his young son.
- Working-Class Hero: Walt, the protagonist, is an out-of-work contractor.
