Manny The Movie Guy /

Imagine putting a stranger on a pedestal and then seeing your dreams come crashing down upon meeting this person. That is exactly what happened to our hero in the new movie “Being Flynn.” The stranger in question was his own father.

Paul Dano, the actor who famously sparred with Oscar-winner Daniel Day Lewis in “There Will Be Blood,” is now trading barbs with Robert De Niro in “Being Flynn.” Dano plays the son, Nick Flynn, and De Niro is his wayward father, Jonathan Flynn.

Based on the 1997 memoir by the real Nick Flynn called “Another Bulls—t Night in Suck City,” “Being Flynn” is a thoughtful meditation on family relationships. The movie takes its time to get the message across but De Niro’s performance makes it all an ebullient experience.

Let’s be honest and admit that De Niro has not done a good movie worthy of his iconic stature in quite a while. It seemed that the actor has been wasting his talent starring in films like “Hide and Seek” and the “Meet the Parents” franchise. I’m happy to report that De Niro is back in top form in “Being Flynn.”

Jonathan is a tricky role to play. He’s unlikeable, he left his family to fend for themselves, and he’s an unreliable narrator who seemed to derive pleasure from emotionally hurting his son. Yet, as a viewer, you will believe in him and even champion his cause. And that’s largely due to De Niro’s performance.

Nick grew up longing for his dad. In replace of an absent father, he has a loving mother played by Julianne Moore. Many different father figures emerge throughout Nick’s life but no one can compare to the indelible image of the long-lost Jonathan.

At the heart of “Being Flynn” is the art of writing. Jonathan fancies himself as one of the few, real American authors. But the problem is he has not written anything. Nick, perhaps to emulate his father, decides to take writing as a profession. Guess who got published first?

It took nearly seven years for “Being Flynn” to be made. Writer-director Paul Weitz (“About a Boy”) wrote 30 different scripts to adapt the memoir. What he came up with is a darkly endearing tale to showcase De Niro.

You can tell that the actor relishes playing the role. Jonathan is a racist homophobe and De Niro was about a foot away from imitating the lovable bigot we all know as Archie Bunker in “All in the Family.” But the actor held back and chose to create palpable chemistry with Dano instead.

The younger actor is also commendable. Whether he is exchanging verbal blows with De Niro, or professing his love to his girlfriend Denise (Olivia Thilby), Dano holds his own and makes us care for the character. “Being Flynn” is really Nick’s story and Dano fleshes out his character. He is truly an interesting actor to watch.

Weitz makes great use of his stellar cast. It is intriguing that the writer-director chose to return to the father-son category. In “About a Boy,” Hugh Grant’s character learned how to be a grown-up with the help of a little boy and “In Good Company,” family drama takes center stage in a corporate setting.

In “Being Flynn,” Jonathan learns life lessons from his grown-up son. The message of the movie may be overly stretched, but the film spells it loud and clear that life is cyclical. You can be up one minute and down the second, just like De Niro’s career.