Despite the presence of Steve Carell here, I had some reservations about watching this film. But now with Netflix, I decided to give it a look and sadly my concerns were accurrate. The film is not without its moments. Carell and Alan Arkin both turn in solid performances (I would completely support Arkin's win for Best Supporting Actor if it were not for the fact that his role is so small in the film). There were also a couple of moments that produced laughs; although probably not as many as they were striving for.
The primary problem with the film is that it forces you to watch this dysfunctional family interact in very uncomfortable situations without seeing any significant growth in the characters. I don't buy the bonding that occurs in the film's final scenes. Despite that moment of togetherness, I still get the feeling that these individuals will maintain their negative qualities. Even worse is the fact that these characters aren't terribly original or interesting. Everyone seems to be created out of sitcom cliches (the pathetic father! the moody son!)
Finally, I found the pageant scenes to be confusing. On one hand it seemed to mock the whole young girl pageant scene. But then it had Olive (Abigail Breslin) act just as ridiculous as these other girls, yet the film seems to applaud this as if it's radically different than everyone else. Plus, the fact that no one outside of Olive's grandfather had seen her act before the pageant seemed really contrived.
Fitting of the title, there are small moments of sunshine found here, but overall the film was both too depressing and overly ridiculous for me to like it. Seeing it get a Best Picture nominee really makes me wonder how these films are being chose. Netflix rating: **
1 comment:
My opinion is harsher, no surprise. Most of the funny parts were so bound up in something sad that I couldn't appreciate the humor. I agree the situations were uncomfortable. Consider the son's anguish at his dreams being dashed.
The pageant scenes made Olive look as ridiculous as you knew all the audience members thought. She was untalented, unattractive and wholly unqualified for any sort of contest...except fool. Am I a total jerk? No, cause it's a movie. If she was a real girl with real feelings, then yes, I'd be a total a$$hole, but as it is, I wasted my time with this movie.
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