Is it just me or did Christian Slater at first seem...
...like a lurking sinister presence who probably will eventually molest the daughter--setting her off on a path of nymphomania? I enjoyed the film. It's not porn; it's art. But my random and admittedly silly post is about Christian Slater. He seems strangely too short and creepy-looking with his facial hair and receding hairline for me to initially believe him as a sensitive caring father. I eventually got over it. That's a shallow statement, but I am also short with facial hair and a receding hairline, though I shaved my head. So it's not intended to be mean-spirited, but rather a perception when viewing the movie.
At first, I found it impossible for me to not see anyone other than "Hey! It's Christian Slater!" Fine actor, but his whole vibe as a character actor is creepy, and so it made it sometimes uncomfortable before I understood his character whenever he was around his daughter in this movie. I kept expecting that his character would do something inappropriate to the daughter during one of their creepy alone time encounters--him laying on the ground next to the daughter, caressing her, etc. Due to the nature of the film and hype surrounding its controversial themes and content. I was tensed up and expecting something cringeworthy between the father and daughter. Thankfully, that was not the case. Perhaps this discomfort was intentional by the director, as he artfully shocks in all of his movies; or maybe it was just that I've seen way too many movies and expected the worst. However, I suspect that this was just a matter of my personal limitations and restricted ability to see beyond Christian Slater's Heathers-era creepy guy persona. His Jack Nicholson voice and mannerisms--scaled back in this movie--have only accentuated the creepy factor to the point that even looking at his daughter transforms into the possibility of him leering and then pouncing.
Again, none of this occurs in the movie. But I'm curious if others initially had a similar impression BEFORE or DURING watching. After seeing the movie, there's nothing about his performance or the script that would suggest any of this, and he was solid in the role. I'm just interested in the psychology behind whether it's the observer, the actor, or the combination of both clashing into sexually-charged expectations for the film. Though Slater is perfectly fine and innocent in this film, as a casting director, I probably would've chosen someone else.