It's hard to recommend this story of an unlikeable, insecure, 30-something slacker who lives with his doormat parents and has but a tenuous grasp of reality. But Jack and I laughed in spite of ourselves at director/writer Todd Solondz' (covered in Life During Wartime) mean-spirited satire, although we do not get why many reviews used the word "sweet" to describe it. This spoiler-laden one from the New York Times, however, did not, and is eloquent. As usual, I'm glad I didn't read it before seeing the movie.
The lead, Abe, is played to petulant perfection by Jordan Gelber, whom Amy and I saw playing cheerful Brian in Avenue Q on Broadway eight years ago. His doped-up paramour Miranda is Selma Blair (she's had a lot of roles but the one as Vi in Solondz' nasty Storytelling (2001) is burned into my brain). Mia Farrow (co-winner of Most Promising Newcomer Golden Globe in 1965, she went on to Rosemary's Baby (1968), The Great Gatsby (1974), Robert Altman's A Wedding (1978), and a string of Woody Allen movies: A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982), Zelig (1983), Broadway Danny Rose (1984), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Radio days (1987), September (1987), Another Woman (1988), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Alice (1990), Shadows and Fog (1991), and Husbands and Wives (1992), to name my favorites) and Christopher Walken (won the Oscar for The Deer Hunter (1978), nominated for Catch Me If You Can (2002), great in Annie Hall (1977), Pennies From Heaven (1981), The Dead Zone (1983), Batman Returns (1992), True Romance (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995), Man of the Year (2005), and Hairspray (2007), for my faves) as Abe's saccharine mom and somnambulant dad, respectively, are classic. The elegant Donna Murphy (covered in Higher Ground) is good as the dowdy Marie, whose role expands beyond what one would expect, and Justin Bartha (Doug in both Hangover movies) is inexplicably listed first in the credits, though his character of Abe's successful brother is a small role.
Abe's cluttered junior-high bedroom is designed by Alex DiGerlando (art director on Morning Glory and The Beaver, production designer on Beasts of the Southern Wild and more).
No composer is credited and, as I recall from a week ago, the credits contain a long list of songs. However, imdb only prints one, and I can't find the list anywhere. Oh well.
Critics weigh in at only 75% and audiences gave it 53% on rottentomatoes. It's truly only for Solondz' fan base.
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