garrettsorenson

This is now my favorite movie this year; I've completely forgotten Blue Jasmine, which was quite good…I think. All of the performances were solid and believable, but Josh Gad's 'moment of failure' completely destroyed me. He is absolutely Beta Male gold in this film, and so inspiring. The duet scenes between Paltrow and Ruffalo were magical: I fully believed in the romantic spark (I can't remember when an infatuation seemed more real on the screen.) Tim Robbins and Patrick Fugit made me cry for the SECOND time toward the end--fantastic stuff. I immediately called my wife and my brother to tell them I loved them…It's just freakin' great, this movie. However, this is NOT a romantic comedy. This is a serious drama with comedic elements. Blumburg and Winston turned in an incredible script that constantly avoided being trite or Hollywood where it easily could have for laughs. I must say that I am not surprised AT ALL at the lackluster ratings: Sex addiction is tooooo touchy for Americans.

I really liked the first two. I did. It was clear from the first gratuitous, plot-crushing soliloquy of Michael Cane (there were four in total) that this was headed for disaster: a disaster that even Anne Hathaway in black latex couldn't save. There was unintelligible dialogue from everyone, especially Gary Oldman; Bane never had a chance to be understood, with that auto-tune mask set to 'distort' on his face. People around me were constantly asking, "what did he say?" What little action and Bat-gadgetry there was just couldn't save this bloated failure. The names 'Waterworld' and 'Indiana Jones 4' will justifiably be raised in comparison. I really liked the first two. I did.

My wife and I went to see this on by birthday, and I was expecting it to be sorta quirky and off beat. I was surprised to find that this was a touching and humorous relationship-driven drama.

As already accounted here, Ryan Gosling gave a performance that many MANY of the popular actors could only DREAM of. He was brilliant, and his portrayal of Lars covered so many emotional dynamics.

However, I am going to write about Paul Schneider, who played Lars' brother, Gus. He was so subtle and funny, so spot on! His side-arc concerning being the older brother in a troubled family. . . just genius.

I would recommend this movie to everyone.