The acting in this film is hands down excellent, no question.
Maybe it's the fact that my divorce wasn't this weird and we managed not to destroy our son when we split, or maybe I just don't understand why we needed to see a pre-adolescent boy masturbate and wipe his semen on things . . .
But I really didn't enjoy this film as much as endure it with great hope that it would come alive at some point. It didn't.
The parents in this family are far too annoying and screwed up for me to care about anything but keeping them from messing up the kids, which, well, it's too late.
The first 2/3rds of this film we are watching the younger son slowly disintegrate into what seems like insanity while the older son just pisses us off with his inane bullcrap. When we start to feel something for this older boy, the movie becomes interesting, and then abruptly ends, leaving us unclear about the sadly screwed up younger boy. Or about anything else.
It's not clear what's happening with any of the characters, and we almost don't care at all, not even about the boys.
The film is gritty and uncomfortable and we don't find anyone very sympathetic. It's simply sad and disturbing, but not in a way that sparks intelligent conversation about the ravages of divorce or the intelligence of Pink Floyd lyrics -- more in a way that makes you wish you hadn't seen the film.
Maybe it's the fact that my divorce wasn't this weird and we managed not to destroy our son when we split, or maybe I just don't understand why we needed to see a pre-adolescent boy masturbate and wipe his semen on things . . .
But I really didn't enjoy this film as much as endure it with great hope that it would come alive at some point. It didn't.
The parents in this family are far too annoying and screwed up for me to care about anything but keeping them from messing up the kids, which, well, it's too late.
The first 2/3rds of this film we are watching the younger son slowly disintegrate into what seems like insanity while the older son just pisses us off with his inane bullcrap. When we start to feel something for this older boy, the movie becomes interesting, and then abruptly ends, leaving us unclear about the sadly screwed up younger boy. Or about anything else.
It's not clear what's happening with any of the characters, and we almost don't care at all, not even about the boys.
The film is gritty and uncomfortable and we don't find anyone very sympathetic. It's simply sad and disturbing, but not in a way that sparks intelligent conversation about the ravages of divorce or the intelligence of Pink Floyd lyrics -- more in a way that makes you wish you hadn't seen the film.