My Son Hunter is a 2022 American biographical comedy film directed by Robert Davi and starring Laurence Fox, Gina Carano and John James. The film centers on Hunter Biden, a son of US president Joe Biden. Since 2019, Donald Trump and his allies have accused both Bidens of corruption.[2] It is, according to The Guardian's Catherine Shoard, the "debut fiction attempt" of documentarians Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer.[5][6] The film is being distributed by American far-right news website Breitbart News,[7][8] and was released on September 7, 2022.[1]
| My Son Hunter | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Robert Davi[2] |
| Written by | |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Vladimir Ilic |
| Edited by | Ricky Stone |
Production company | The Unreported Story Society |
| Distributed by | Breitbart News |
Release date |
|
Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2.75 million |
Synopsis
According to the British online newspaper The Independent, the film centers on "allegations made by Trump allies" about Hunter Biden's foreign business deals.[9][10] The producers stated that the film depicts the alleged "business dealings and lifestyle of Hunter Biden".[11]
Cast
- Laurence Fox as Hunter Biden[10][12][11][13]
- Gina Carano as Agent Hound, a secret service agent[6][14][15]
- John James as U.S. president Joe Biden[16][4][13][17][18]
- Emma Gojkovic as Grace "Kitty" Henderson
- Franklin Ayodele as Tyrone[19]
- Joe Nichols as Terence
- Jay Lim as Ye Jianming
- Ljubisa Milisic as Mykola Zlochevsky
- Sasa Djordjevic as Viktor Yanukovych
- Donald Borza II as Dinesh D'Souza
- Dean Jones as Stephen Miller
- Starr Jones as Louie Gohmert
- Nenad Herakovic as Devon Archer
Development and filming
Two conservative Irish filmmakers, Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer, developed the film. When the film was first announced, it introduced its attempt to raise 2.5 million dollars[20] via a private crowdfunding site. The project raised over 2.5 million dollars from crowdfunding on its official site.[21] Pre-production started as early as February 2021 according to star Gina Carano.[6] The movie's crew includes Robert Davi as director,[10] and Phelim McAleer & Ann McElhinney as producers.[4]
Gina Carano, who played a "world-weary" secret service agent in the film stated: "The script was instantly intriguing and side achingly hilarious to me, especially after being newly exposed to the political realm in 2020. Robert Davi is someone who reached out to me as soon as I was 'canceled' in Feb. 2021. I signed on in support of him and one of my favorite humans, Laurence Fox."[11]
Production began in October 2021 in Serbia,[6][11][22] and lasted for four weeks.[4][2] During filming John James, who portrayed Joe Biden, had an off-set injury and was rushed to the hospital, though he continued filming after treatment saying that "the show must go on".[16]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 67% of 6 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.6/10.[23]
Armond White of National Review said that the film "serves a muckraking, restorative function", and wrote: "Make no mistake, McAleer is polemical, but My Son Hunter doesn't condemn Hunter Biden so much as understand him and the nature of his offense—thus demonstrating the ultimate form of journalistic scruples."[24]
Naomi Fry of The New Yorker called the film "an amateurish, often batshit, if very occasionally vulgarly amusing satire-cum-thriller-cum-melodrama-cum-propaganda-organ, which switches between modes with the head-spinning unexpectedness of a Surrealist cutup."[25]
References
- ^ a b Thompson, Sophie (August 27, 2022). "Laurence Fox stars as Hunter Biden in 'My Son Hunter' trailer". The Independent. Archived from the original on August 28, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
- ^ a b c Grater, Tom (September 23, 2021). "Hunter Biden Film Starring Laurence Fox In The Works". Deadline.
- ^ a b Stevens, Dana (September 9, 2022). "I Watched the Hunter Biden Movie So You Don't Have to". Slate.com.
- ^ a b c d e Grater, Tom (October 26, 2021). "'Dynasty' Actor To Play Joe Biden; Sci-Fi 'Sentinel' Wraps In Estonia; 'Allelujah' Underway In UK; 'The Six' Gets UK Cinema Run – Global Briefs". Deadline Hollywood.
- ^ Shoard, Catherine (September 23, 2021). "Laurence Fox to play Joe Biden's son Hunter in new film". The Guardian. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
- ^ a b c d D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 18, 2021). "Gina Carano Joins Hunter Biden Biopic 'My Son Hunter'". Deadline Hollywood.
- ^ Multiple sources:
- Kaiser, Jonas; Rauchfleisch, Adrian; Bourassa, Nikki (March 15, 2020). "Connecting the (Far-)Right Dots: A Topic Modeling and Hyperlink Analysis of (Far-)Right Media Coverage during the US Elections 2016". Digital Journalism. 8 (3). Routledge: 422–441. doi:10.1080/21670811.2019.1682629. S2CID 211434599.
- Davis, Mark (July 3, 2019). "A new, online culture war? The communication world of Breitbart.com". Communication Research and Practice. 5 (3). Routledge: 241–254. doi:10.1080/22041451.2018.1558790. S2CID 159033173.
- Freelon, Deen; Marwick, Alice; Kreiss, Daniel (September 4, 2020). "False equivalencies: Online activism from left to right". Science. 369 (6508): 1197–1201. Bibcode:2020Sci...369.1197F. doi:10.1126/science.abb2428. PMID 32883863. S2CID 221471947.
- Mudde, Cas (October 25, 2019). The Far Right Today. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-5095-3685-6. Retrieved October 10, 2020 – via Google Books.
- Worth, Owen (2017). "Globalisation and the 'Far-right' Turn in International Affairs". Irish Studies in International Affairs. 28. Royal Irish Academy: 22. doi:10.3318/isia.2017.28.8. S2CID 158719904.
- Zeng, Jing; Schäfer, Mike S. (October 21, 2021). "Conceptualizing "Dark Platforms". Covid-19-Related Conspiracy Theories on 8kun and Gab". Digital Journalism. 9 (9). Routledge: 1321–1343. doi:10.1080/21670811.2021.1938165.
In contrast, Gab users who shared more far-right "fake news" websites are relatively more visible on Gab. Some of the most cited sources under this category include the Unhived Mind (N = 2,729), Epoch Times (N = 1,303), Natural News (N = 1,301), Breitbart (N = 769), the Gateway Pundit (N = 422), and InfoWars (N = 656).
- Weigel, David (November 14, 2016). "Is Trump's new chief strategist a racist? Critics say so". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
- Gidda, Mirren (November 16, 2016). "President Barack Obama Warns Against 'Us and Them' Nationalism". Newsweek. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
- Murphy, Dan (June 20, 2015). "Beyond Rhodesia, Dylann Roof's manifesto and the website that radicalized him". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
- "Donald Trump's Cabinet picks, so far". Associated Press. November 19, 2016. Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
- "AppNexus bans Breitbart from ad exchange, citing hate speech". The Japan Times. Reuters. November 24, 2016. Archived from the original on December 11, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
- McGeough, Paul (November 19, 2016). "Make America hate again: how Donald Trump's victory has emboldened bigotry". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
- ^ "Breitbart Enters Movie Business With Biden Film My Son Hunter That Stars Gina Carano, and Promises Corn Pop and Lots of 'Sex'". Mediaite. August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
- ^ Spocchia, Gina (March 21, 2021). "'My Son Hunter': Conservative filmmakers crowdfund for movie about Hunter Biden". The Independent. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
- ^ a b c Webb, Beth (November 19, 2021). "Gina Carano to star in anti-Biden propaganda film 'My Son Hunter'". NME.com.
- ^ a b c d Napoli, Jessica (November 19, 2021). "Ex-Mandalorian star Gina Carano to join controversial Hunter Biden biopic". Fox News.
- ^ Shoard, Catherine (September 23, 2021). "Laurence Fox to play Joe Biden's son Hunter in new film". TheGuardian.com.
- ^ a b Scribner, Herb (November 19, 2021). "Former 'Mandalorian' star Gina Carano is joining a biopic about Hunter Biden". Deseret.
- ^ "Gina Carano to Play Secret Service Agent in Hunter Biden Biopic My Son Hunter". MovieWeb.com. November 19, 2021.
- ^ Villarreal, Daniel (November 19, 2021). "Ex-'Mandalorian' Star Gina Carano to Play Secret Service Agent in Hunter Biden Film". Newsweek.
- ^ a b Overhultz, Lauryn (November 16, 2021). "'Dynasty' star John James rushed to hospital amid filming Biden biopic: 'Took method acting to a new level'". Fox News.
- ^ Polus, Sarah (October 25, 2021). "John James to portray Biden in upcoming biopic 'My Son Hunter'". The Hill.
- ^ Nolasco, Stephanie (October 25, 2021). "Former 'Dynasty' star John James' to star as President Biden in 'My Son Hunter': 'The script has it all'". Fox News.
- ^ "Inside the secretive private screening of anti-Biden movie, 'My Son Hunter': No red carpet". Newsweek. September 2022.
- ^ Spinocchia, Gino (March 21, 2021). "'My Son Hunter': Conservative filmmakers crowdfund for movie about Hunter Biden". The Independent.
- ^ "My Son Hunter". MySonHunter.com.
- ^ Sylvester, Jamie (November 19, 2021). "Ex-'Mandalorian' Star Gina Carano Joins Controversial Hunter Biden Film". Inside The Magic.
- ^ "My Son Hunter (2022)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
- ^ White, Armond (October 19, 2022). "Sympathy for the Screwup Son". National Review. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
- ^ Fry, Naomi (September 15, 2022). ""My Son Hunter" Is Not the Hunter Biden Movie We Need, or the One We Deserve". The New Yorker. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
