Prodigal Sons Review
By David Kempler
Prodigal Grandson
Director Kimberly Reed has struck gold with her documentary, "Prodigal Sons". She set out to depict a star quarterback returning to his small hometown in Montana, after undergoing a sex change, and ended up with two movies for the price of one. More importantly, the unintended movie is far more compelling than the one she set out to make.
First, you should know that Ms. Reed is the quarterback in question. She wanted to create a video record of her return home, but instead the film becomes about how her brother, Marc, reacts to her and the startling turn in Marc's life that occurred during production.
Marc had it far tougher than his older brother, now sister, Kim, because he wasn't the star quarterback, and also was not an all-star academically. An accident at 21 only made things worse for him. He was adopted as an infant and didn't quite fit in with the rest of the family. Marc comes across as bright but there is evidence that his brain isn't firing on all cylinders. He is prone to unanticipated outbreaks of anger and inappropriate behavior and everyone around him suffers as a result, most importantly, himself.
However, "Prodigal Sons" takes a turn that would be difficult to make up. It turns out that he is a grandson to an incredibly famous man. If you want to find out who, you can look it up, but if I were you, I'd try and be surprised by the news. Marc gets together with his "other" family and watching him become part of his biological life is borderline unbelievable.
Upon his return home from his new-found life, the problems remain and they play out spectacularly, but sadly. "Prodigal Sons" is a very unique experience to be privy to and I have trouble believing that anyone who sees it won't be impressed by what they see. I guarantee you have never seen anything quite like this.
