Gigantic

Refreshing for a first time director, Matt Aselton has managed to bring a new dimension to the acting repertoire of his leads, Zooey Deschanel, Paul Dano, and veteran, John Goodman.

Deschanel in particular shines brightly in Gigantic, as a privileged, underachieving heiress who is facing up to becoming a woman – evidenced in the empathy her character, 'Happy', somehow manages to elicit.

Gigantic certainly plays against gender expectations, as Deschanel's love interest, Dano, looks to fix a situation in order to mend himself, indeed, this is a chick flick that should also appeal to guys; funny, rude, touching, violent, gentle, brutal, kindly, inconsiderate.

Once you overcome the gimmick of the unique premise – mattress salesman who wants to adopt a Chinese baby – this really becomes an enjoyable watch, peppered with cool, sharp dialog and seasoned with warm, elevated charm. It is a movie in which the viewer is invited to contemplate how inner turmoil can be overcome if one doesn't give up on what one wants.

Shot in 35mm, it is also a beautiful thing to behold, and with a soundtrack (scored by Roddy Bottum) that includes Animal Collective, there is much about Gigantic which stays with the viewer long after its conclusion – not least the movie's Fight Club character: as Zach Galifianakis portrays a brutal representation of disconnection.

The main protagonist of 'Gigantic' is twenty-eight year old Brian - a morose, monosyllabic mattress salesman. Some jaded film-goers might feel they've watched Brian's charisma-free loner cousins overplaying their quirkiness in far too many Indie projects. In 'Gigantic' Brian possesses the stubborn ambition to adopt a Chinese baby - a plot contrivance designed to distract from his stupefying dullness. Despite being single, earning little money and suffering from violent hallucinations, an irresponsible adoption agency is helping him achieve his goal.

The story begins when Al Lolly, an overweight businessman with chronic back problems, visits the warehouse where Brian is employed. Big Al purchases a mattress and later sends his beautiful daughter to settle the bill. When Happy Lolly arrives, she asks Brian to help transport her father to a chiropractic appointment, and while they await its conclusion, Happy invites Brian to have sex with her. He doggedly obliges in an underground car park - but their romance doesn't amount to much. Happy immediately expresses her own quirkiness with feeble attempts to escape the relationship, while Brian continues to obsess about Chinese babies. Like it or leave it - that's how love is in Indie-World.

The film's script is a strange beast - the main story is the lovers' moth-eaten love affair, but the sub-plots contain some offbeat black humor, providing John Goodman, Ed Asner, Jane Alexander, Clarke Peters and Zooey Deschanel with opportunities to create some original characters. Somehow, mysteriously, their combined talents manage to keep 'Gigantic' afloat while Paul Dano impersonates a sack of potatoes in the central role.

After reading the comments and reviews on this page for the film Gigantic, I felt compelled to register an account on IMDb and add my own voice to the apparently confused chorus. My reaction to the film itself was strong, but not nearly as strong as my reaction to the comments people have been adding to this page. If I had gone to check IMDb site for the film before seeing it, as I usually do, I probably would have been turned off by the low rating and negative comments, and wouldn't have ended up seeing this little gem of a film. And that would have been too bad, because it really is a nice little film; One that has qualities that apparently inspire vitriol in some viewers, but their anger and 'disappointment' just bewilders me.

What is not to like in this film? The cast is amazing. The performances are top-notch and completely appropriate for the tone that director Aselton is trying to create. I've read comments that have mentioned 'believability' of certain scenes and plot points, but I think these types of viewers were doomed to misunderstand the film from the very beginning (and isn't it always these viewers who do choose to comment? bashing on what they don't understand). And that's not even to say this is some kind of elitist 'quirky indie' film as most people suggest. It's to the point now where 'quirky' is just another derogatory and pejorative term for something outside the realm of someone's expectations, experience, and capability of understanding. It's a term the narrow-minded use.

Gigantic is well worth your time and money. It's shot beautifully. It has some great performances that create genuine laughs, not from absurdity for its own sake or from cheesy one-liners, but from the performance choices themselves and from the character development. Did I mention Matt Walsh was great as well? The whole cast is wonderful, and I personally look forward to whatever Aselton does next.

Gigantic is a different movie and this factored with some great direction and strong performances made the movie quite interesting. Paul Dano and Zooey Deschanel made quite an unassuming yet refreshing pair. But it's Ed Asner and John Goodman who actually work their magic and steal the show. The film however disappoints in various levels mostly in all the side stories - for one thing although I couldn't believe I was seeing Galfianakis again this year, I couldn't quite make out of what to do with the homeless man every time he appeared. They could have done away with the character completely and the film would have been so much better. Similar such scenes exist throughout which are probably meant to convey some meaning probably but serve more of a distraction. Nonetheless the movie was absorbing and the direction was sleek. 6/10.

Greetings again from the darkness. I thrive on indie films and am always anxious when a first time director manages to break through the politics and red tape and gain distribution for his/her pet project. The debut from Matt Aselton is far from perfect, but certainly provides high expectations for his next film.

Blessed with a terrific cast including Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood), indie favorite Zooey Deschanel, John Goodman, and veterans Ed Asner and Jane Alexander; Aselton creates some odd characters that somehow connect not only to each other, but also to the viewing audience.

The film does sometimes suffer from the mistake of many first time filmmakers ... inclusion of scenes that have always been in the mind of the writer/director, but just don't quite fit in the context of the film. The brutal attacks/images by the homeless guy (played by comedian Zach Galifianakis) and the massage parlor scene are two that jump to mind.

On the other hand, and more importantly, there are a few scenes that are remarkable and really provide hope for Aselton's next film: When Zooey first awakens from her nap in the store, she and Dano have an exchange that sets the stage for their relationship; the family dinner without Zooey; John Goodman on his kitchen floor and at the doctor; Jane Alexander on the balcony with Zooey proves what an effective and elegant actress Ms. Alexander remains as she is the first one to connect with Zooey on an adult level. These all result from the creative mind an eye of Mr. Aselton and have set the bar high for his next outing.