Writer: Arthur Miller
Director: Ivo Van Hove
Winning two Olivier Awards, All My Sons, which took London by storm, is now in cinemas. The Wyndham’s show remains truthful to Arthur Miller’s play, and does the late playwright justice.
All My Sons was the latest breathtakingly expensive West End play where extortionate tickets are justified by the presence of a Hollywood A-lister (in this case, Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad star, Bryan Cranston). It feels astoundingly contemporary. Capitalism, unemployment, war and corrupt businessmen are still very relatable themes.
All My Sons, which first came to London in 1948, just after its Broadway debut, is directed by Olivier Award winner Ivo Van Hove, who worked with Cranston on Network in 2017. Van Hove is well-suited for an Arthur Miller revival, having had great success with A View from the Bridge, the sensational Young Vic 2015 adaptation starring Mark Strong. He also directed a 2016 revival of The Crucible on Broadway, starring Ben Wishaw and Saoirse Ronan.
Miller tells the story of the Kellers, who seem an affluent, happy family until the rumours that Joe made his money selling faulty parts to the military during the war, resulting in the deaths of American soldiers, threaten to tear the equilibrium apart and shatter the facade of idyllic suburban Midwest America. Cranston and Marianne Jean-Baptiste are the believable married Kellers, while Paapa Essiedu, as their son and Hayley Squires, as the latter’s girlfriend, are convincing lovers.
The acting is excellent generally, save for the sometimes-questionable accents, which range from Philadelphia to Boston to anywhere except Midwestern America. Despite the lack of uniformity, they do the accents well, Essiedu notably pronouncing the “Bernard” in George Bernard Shaw the American way, with the stress on the second half of the word.
George’s arrival is slightly bizarre. Whereas everyone else is more or less dressed in appropriate costume, Tom Glynn-Carney arrives in a hoodie, which feels out of place for the play and the character. Why is the war hero-turned-lawyer sweaty and twitching and acting like an extra in Trainspotting? An answer is not provided. Glynn-Carney’s performance is excellent, but it feels like he is performing in a different play.
Unfortunately, Cranston, who is superb for the majority, looks like an actor trying to cry in the final act, contrasting with the much more impressive performance of Essiedu. Cranston’s failures could be because he is acting for the stage, not for the screen, where presumably he would approach the scene differently. It is likely the scene would have carried better if he were still in a theatre.
The set is good; the felled tree, planted to remember the missing Larry, is the centre piece of the production, and actually falls in the opening scene, which is an impressive feat of engineering from the prop department. The large amber window, used sporadically throughout, looks like a sun, possibly a nod to all the sons referenced in the play.
The film adaptation runs without interval, and the breaks between the acts are punctuated with music, first Johnny Cash and then Leonard Cohen. The use of more contemporary singers works well in the play, which seems to float in and out of time rather than stay fixed in one period.
The cameras are generally zoomed in on the actors, giving us a closer look than we would get in the audience. Some light playing around with focus and colour helps to get the audience looking where they are supposed to, meaning the audience doesn’t miss a facial expression or mannerism that could have been lost in the theatre.
While people may distrust or dislike the idea of theatre on the screen, it is a way for people to see a show they would have otherwise not been able to afford. Similarly, many theatre fans outside London who are able to watch Van Hove’s latest production have the opportunity here. Whether theatre should be recorded for the screen is still up for debate, but what isn’t is whether this play works on the screen. The production, direction, acting and set are all excellent, and it translates to the cinema with ease.
In cinemas from 16 April and runs until 9 July 2026
