The Curious Life Of Howard Wakefield Movie

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I recently watched the 2017 movie “The Curious Life of Howard Wakefield,” starring Bryan Cranston and Jennifer Garner. And I found it delightful.

Bryan Cranston gives the performance of a lifetime as Howard Wakefield, a lawyer on the edge of madness who has decided to disassociate himself from his own life. – ImbD wrote.

The Curious Life of Howard Wakefield Movie:

The entire movie is narrated by Howard, recounting his life. His hopes and dreams, his marriage, and his children. What he did; what he could have done. Reflecting on his past.

Wakefield is a gripping drama adapted from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story of the same name. It begins as a comedy of sorts, but then evolves into an exploration of the main character.

Howard Wakefield had what most would consider “everything.” A beautiful wife, twin girls, and a career as an attorney.

How His Hiding Begins:

At the beginning of the movie, The Curious Life of Howard Wakefield, he came home from work and was startled to see a raccoon among his trash cans.

He becomes angry and chases the raccoon until it climbs into the garage attic. The garage attic was dusty, and random furniture sat around, unused and unloved.

Tired and not yet ready to be with his family, Howard sat down in an easy chair in the attic.

He finds himself staring out the window straight into his and wife Diana’s bedroom. After a while, he fell asleep.

In the movie The Curious Life of Howard Wakefield, he woke up the next morning, surprised that he’d slept through the night, as he hadn’t meant to do that.

He’d slept right through and hadn’t even gone inside to be with his wife and daughters. What must they think happened to him?

But it was done.

Now, how was he going to explain to his wife where he’d been all night? How does he tell her that he was up in the garage attic watching her become more and more alarmed because he hasn’t come home?

So he puts off going downstairs and into the house because it’s simply easier to do nothing. He watches them out the window until his wife leaves for work and his girls are off to school.

He goes inside, eats something, and thinks he’ll probably shower and go to work.

What Happens, Happens:

But then he doesn’t do that. He dawdles some more. He is taking a little break from all his responsibilities, he tells himself.

Howard Wakefield doesn’t call in to work. He doesn’t call his wife. Howard stays in the attic, peering down at his life through the attic window.

Dressed as though he’s going to work, he grabs a book to read and food from the refrigerator and pantry that he might need to spend the day in the attic. And he goes back to his lair.

Then Diana suddenly comes home. She is obviously upset, he realizes as he watches her cry. She begins calling people they know, searching for any word about him, very concerned about his whereabouts.

First, she checks his law office. The secretary tells her that they have not heard from Howard. He mimes what she is probably saying. He enjoys, for whatever reason, standing outside of his life looking in at what he has inadvertently created by staying in the attic overnight.

Howard could make up some excuse about where he’s been and come out of the attic, which would be the most sensible explanation. He could easily let her know that there’s no need for alarm, because he is fine.

But he doesn’t do that.

In the movie “The Curious Life of Howard Wakefield, he is almost like a naughty young boy hiding from his mother.

Howard Wakefield Caught In Limbo:

He is caught in a sort of limbo, a mental and physical limbo. He realizes that he quite enjoyed sleeping in the chair with no responsibilities.

Howard sits in the chair and reads his book, eats the food he brought from the kitchen, and thinks about his newfound freedom. He actually enjoys this little “vacation” from his everyday life.

He finds a pair of binoculars in a box and, from time to time, zooms in on his family. Watches as his wife’s mother pulls into the driveway, rushing to console her daughter.

He muses that he would love to point a rifle at the window and shoot the woman who is his mother-in-law. The woman who never shuts up, who is probably telling her daughter at that very moment that he’s not worth worrying about.

How nice it would be to get rid of her, he thinks.

And then one day turns into two.

Then, in two months, his hair grows scraggly, and he’s grown a beard. He no longer really cares about all the niceties of his suburban life. Shaving and making himself presentable and successful as an attorney no longer seems to matter.

He’s not even sure what matters.

Scavenging:

He goes out at night and scavenges through trash cans for food, right alongside all the other people who live as he does now. It isn’t all that hard to get by, he learns. Howard finds shoes and all kinds of things in the neighbor’s trash cans that cost nothing.

And as he digs in his own trash cans, he can figure out what’s going on in Diana’s life. He sees that she’s buying cheaper cuts of meat. So she’s worried about money, he thinks to himself.

What began as one night turned into a way of life for Howard Wakefield. He didn’t decide to disappear from his family. After all, he hasn’t truly “left” them. He’s right there in the attic, quite near them. They just don’t know it.

Then one day, he watches as his wife and daughters take his clothing to the car. They are ridding themselves of his things. He had expected her to mourn him a bit longer. He had not really given thought to what would eventually happen after he vanished.

Old Resentments:

He has entertained himself watching them go about their lives. Now Diana has to take care of the outdoor chores she had relegated to him. Taking out the trash and cleaning the gutters.

Howard watches with something akin to glee as he sees her struggle to roll the trash cans down the driveway and out to the curb.

He thinks about when they began dating, how he stole her from his best friend. He was competing with the other man and having a great time.

They ended up getting married and have now been married for fifteen years. And they had twin daughters who were now growing up so quickly into women.

Why had all that been so important to him, he wonders? He had been vain and arrogant at the time. Why had he been so jealous of men talking to his wife? He can’t recall now.

What Has Become Of His Life:

In the Curious Life of Howard Wakefield, he has had the opportunity to reflect on his life. To realize that before, he was just going through the motions. He begins to notice the beauty of the stars and the natural world around him. He’d never really taken the time to do this before.

Howard begins to go out in public to the park, and no one recognizes him anymore. He even appears once in front of Diana, and she thinks he’s another homeless man.

He has been liberated from his life, though he’d never planned it. Howard now fears going home. Too much time has passed. What would he say to explain himself?

Suddenly, Howard changes his mind. He heads to the city in his fancy, expensive car, which has sat in the garage untouched.

Howard goes to the thrift shop to buy clothing and gets a haircut, which he sorely needs. The barber shaves off his straggly beard.

It doesn’t seem that years have passed while he’s been in the attic watching his family. However, he notices that his wife has started dating again.

They no longer need him. And it finally frightens him, what he could lose and how swiftly the time has passed in solitude.

You can watch the YouTube trailer here.

The Ending of The Curious Life of Howard Wakefield Movie:

The movie ends with Howard walking in the door in his nice clothes and shaven face, as though he’s never been gone at all.

He no longer seems to worry about their reaction to him suddenly reappearing.

After all, he’d seen more of his twin daughters from the attic than he’d actually seen them in years.

He had repeatedly told himself he’d never really left them. He’d never officially abandoned them. He was always close by.

But he now realizes that he doesn’t want them to move on and go about their lives without him. He wants them back. Perhaps you don’t understand what you have until you’ve almost lost it seems to be the central theme.

Though he’d dawdled for years in the attic with no plan in mind, now he has one. He’s going home.

The movie ends there. He suddenly appears in the living room in front of his wife and daughters.

The viewers never know what occurred after his long departure.

The entire movie seemed to be about Howard going into seclusion and looking at his life from the outside in. He’s gotten whatever it was out of his system now. And he finally appreciates his life with Diana and the girls.

Do they welcome him back with open arms, though he’d never been truly gone, living in the attic? The viewer never finds out.

But I spent some time musing on what might have happened when he reappeared in their lives.