Frank Ambrose Character Analysis

Frank is father to Chase, Johnny, and Helene, ex-husband to Tina, and current husband to Corinne. A former middle-school football star, Frank peaked in adolescence and remains obsessed with maintaining a masculine identity based on sports, physical toughness, meat-eating, and cool cars. He has a tense relationship with his oldest son, Johnny, because he openly believes Tina’s parenting turned Johnny into a “wimp.” Frank’s obsession with masculinity and football implicitly encouraged his younger son Chase’s bullying. Frank focuses so intently on Chase’s middle-school football career—even finding a doctor to give a second opinion when Chase’s physician advises Chase not to play after a serious concussion—that he inadvertently leads Chase to believe that he only likes him insofar as Chase is “a chip off the old block.” Frank is even dismissive of post-concussion, amnesiac Chase’s attempts to befriend Helene, Frank’s four-year-old daughter with Corinne. Frank thinks Chase playing dolls or princess with Helene is an effeminate, embarrassing waste of time. Yet after amnesiac Chase realizes he stole a Medal of Honor from elderly veteran Mr. Solway, he turns himself in and takes sole responsibility, refusing to implicate his accomplices, Aaron Hakimian and Bear Bratsky; Chase’s unswerving acceptance of responsibility forces Frank to acknowledge that Chase has more strength of character after his accident than he did before. Not only does Frank feel proud of Chase’s moral bravery, but he also belatedly praises Chase’s new kindness toward Helene and testifies during Chase’s juvenile court hearing for stealing the medal that he wishes he’d had a personality-improving head injury when he was Chase’s age. Thus, ironically, Chase models a better model of masculine strength for his father than his father ever modeled for him.