Daddy Longlegs: The Safdie Brothers' Tender Early Film

The cinematic style of Josh and Benny Safdie is instantly recognizable: frantic handheld photography, gritty locations, non-professional actors and stories of anxious New Yorkers. Their unassuming feature debut as a team, Daddy Longlegs, offers an unexpectedly tender portrait of raising children, a contrast to the high-stress thrillers that would later define them.

Made after the brothers' Boston University shorts, Daddy Longlegs premiered at the 2009 Directors' Fortnight under its original title, Go Get Some Rosemary. Ronald Bronstein stars as Lenny, a divorced father and projectionist in Manhattan whose struggle for custody and clumsy attempts at parenting drive the film.

The Safdies' hallmarks — verisimilitude, a lively New York atmosphere and the use of non-professional actors — are all present, including a cameo by Abel Ferrara. Semi-autobiographical in tone, the film traces the brothers' memories of their divorced father and lets Lenny emerge as a sympathetic, eccentric underdog.

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