'When Did You Last See Your Father?'

Taking a thoughtful and honest look at a troubled relationship with a parent can prove emotionally wrenching, and that's the territory mined in When Did You Last See Your Father?

This superbly acted, intelligently written and poignant drama features a powerfully evocative scene in which Blake (Colin Firth), a middle-age man whose father is dying, has a vivid memory of truly seeing his father as he was.

"I thought about the last time I really saw him, in the fullness of him," Blake muses. The memory he evokes is an unremarkable incident, a moment that could have gone unnoticed, but no less a moment of truth.

Based on the book by Blake Morrison, it's a tender, heartfelt, occasionally funny story that never strays into maudlin turf. Seamlessly interweaving flashbacks from his childhood, Blake is played as an adult by Firth and as a young teenager by Matthew Beard. Jim Broadbent is dazzling as Arthur, the father.

Arthur, a self-absorbed doctor with a womanizing bent, is an unstoppable man who uses his charm, wit and willingness to pull off seemingly inconsequential scams to get what he wants. He refers to his son as "Fathead" and mocks him for studying literature instead of medicine. Arthur is as overbearing and full of himself as Blake is sensitive, insecure and awkward. We watch Blake's painful memories as he struggles to uncover family secrets and, in the process, accept his father.

Director Anand Tucker has a special skill with simple stories involving complex relationships, as evidenced here and in his direction of 1998's Hilary and Jackie.

The film is not only poignant, but nuanced, never offering pat answers, predictable revelations or easy sentimentality. A natural inclination for an adult child witnessing the final days of a difficult parent is to want to confront issues never discussed or to seek closure or answers to troubling questions. The film deals with that impulse in an honest fashion, providing a resolution that's surprising and satisfying.

Jim Broadbent (left) as Arthur Morrison and Colin Firth as Blake Morrison in "When Did You Last See Your Father?"