Eat Wheaties!

Tony Hale is in familiar territory playing this character, but it is nice to see him get the chance to play the lead. His Sid Straw is an nice, honest, decent guy who happens to be social media-challenged. His lack of online savvy drives much of this story.

Hale plays awkward, self-unaware characters really well, but he keeps the tone pretty naturalistic in this story, which was a good choice. The apparent absurdity of his situation on Facebook, and the way everyone else reacts provides most of the grist for the conflict here. It's a nice commentary on the superficiality of social media, and how small actions/statements can become magnified beyond any reason.

There's a nice character story arc here, and while not necessarily driven by the character's development (he really hasn't changed that much by the end), it does wrap up in a rather heartwarming, if slightly convenient way.

A good, gentle comedy that delivers well for what it is.

My 11 year old son and I just watched this film. He doesn't usually watch movies like this, but he was on the edge of his seat, feeling for and cheering for Sid. It's a movie that reminds all of us, especially during a time where connections are significantly influenced by online / social media, that everyone is deserving of kindness and compassion. It's also a reminder to be kind to ourselves by embracing who we are. Eat Wheaties is a brilliantly funny, beautiful, and moving film. A must watch!

Sid Straw (Tony Hale) is a bit of an awkward loser but he tries really hard. He gets appointed co-chair of his college reunion and is told to get on Facebook in order to do the organizing. He's clueless to social media as well as many other things. He is delighted to see former college acquaintance Elizabeth Banks there and starts posting on her fan page. Only the postings are public and her agent Frankie grows tired of his persistence. Frankie files a restraining order on Sid and his life spirals down the drain.

Sid is awkward and clueless. Tony Hale does sell it for all it's worth. He keeps the character from devolving into anger or creepy. I wouldn't say that this is terribly funny but it does become touching around the middle. As his life degenerates, his sadness becomes quite compelling and very endearing. It's an improvement over his cringy cluelessness to his loserdom. By the middle, he's more self-aware. There is a sweetness to Sid and it's all down to Tony Hale.

What a great story! Unpretentious, great characters, nice story and funny in a nice way. Sid is great - you just want him to do well.

I would highly recommend this film because it's a great watch and it deserves to be watched!

Okay, I don't know whether I've ever eaten Wheaties and don't know whether they're any good. I'm not a jock and never cared for sports. I'm a lot like Sid.

Tom Hale never comes across as a stalker. He is quite appealing and has a positive attitude no matter what. Well, almost. At one point he finds it hard to go on. He is really believable as someone who could have been the friend of Elizabeth Banks before she became a celebrity. And his explanation of how he knows her, the one actual people hear, is very well done. But he just keeps doing the wrong thing without realizing it. And yet somehow he had a successful career. After all, he seems to know what he's doing and has confidence whether he should or not. I won't say exactly why I think he was a success, but he did have an office and a secretary.

At least I think he had a secretary. Sarah Goldberg (how many Sarahs did this movie have? Three actresses and one character!) had a brief but memorable role. Hoe DID she get this job? She's never shown working except when she delivers an envelope to Sid and even then it's like, "Why am I the one doing this? I shouldn't have to do ANY work. I'm special." But maybe what she's doing on her cell phone is work-related. And my description of her was longer than all her lines put together.

Sarah number two was Becky number two in "Roseanne" and then played a different character on that show. I've seen her in a couple of other roles. But I liked her better in those roles. While I thought she looked familiar but didn't know why, here she was cold and unfeeling. A good performance, probably, but a very unappealing character.

Sarah Burns was the awkward girlfriend, a perfect match for this man.

David Walton was the voice of reason and the stable, mature brother.

This movie had several memorable characters. Paul Walter Hauser played another appealing loser with a positive attitude who got his law degree online. The man had so much enthusiasm. And so funny whenever he had a victory. "Oh, wow! So that's what it's like!"

And Sugar Lyn Beard was his wife. Perfect name, even if her parents didn't give it to her. I don't know if they did. But so sweet you can't stand it. No, actually quite appealing, even with crying babies.

Danielle Brooks was the very nice waitress.

I got concerned when things started getting depressing, but I promise things get better. This movie could have really taken a dark turn, but that's not what happened.

I wish there had been better music. I seem to be watching a lot of movies lately where people don't have the musical taste that I do. The Penn reunion must have been for graduates of an era when music was terrible. Why should I expect anything different? And yet I see mature responsible adults but hear what sounds like a frat party.

Elizabeth Banks wasn't in the credits. That disappointed me. I now check each movie on imdb before watching it (just to see if I saw it or make sure I have the title right before reviewing) but I made the mistake of looking under her credits after I saw her name in the brief summary on my DVR. I like her as the gorgeous game show host with an attitude and I've seen her in some good movie and maybe TV roles, including an evil stepmom. But she does appear in some provocative sexy photos on Facebook.

It's a worthy effort and one you won't likely regret.