Affliction

Released 1997
Stars Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, James Coburn, Jim True, Holmes Osborne, Willem Dafoe, Mary Beth Hurt, Brigid Tierney
Directed by Paul Schrader

Portrait of a man whose screwed-up life--and mental imbalance--can be laid at the feet of his abusive father; the son (Nolte) tries to stay afloat, as traffic cop/jack-of-all-trades in a small, wintry New Hampshire town, and as a miserable part-time dad. Bleak in the extreme, with no light or hope for any of its principal characters, but extremely well acted. Schrader adapted Russell Banks' novel.

Summary by Leonard Maltin