Unlovable

This is a cute, funny, honest, heart-warming, relatable film, an enjoyable 1 hour and 20 minutes. The way mental health is dealt with in this film is refreshing and realistic.

Charlene deGuzman, John Hawkes and Melissa Leo are all brilliant in this film. Sex and love can be the worst of all addictions, because it is free and easily attainable, and most don't understand what a nightmare it can be for the person. Charlene's Joy captured that, and her performance will surely resonate with those who suffer. There is something light and charming about her, that makes you root for her, despite how little she loves herself. John Hawkes is subtle and perfect, as a shy, peculiar man who is unable to even make eye contact, yet has more attachment skills than Joy. Melissa Leo is brittle yet compassionate. Ellen Geer, who plays the grandmother, was spot-on as a woman with Alzheimer's. It was quite a movie, and I'm so glad I saw it.

The movie was not 100% true to life but it did a great job of poking fun and being lighthearted about such a serious subject. The director realized we should all have a sense of humor about our troubles if we're going to manage them in a healthy way. This film was not meant to be an exacting portrayal of the subject matter nor a film that allowed for Academy Award performances. Drama with comedy is like that. I thought the actors and actresses did a stellar job with the roles they performed and it was a semiserious, funny/quirky, yet heart warming movie. There's good in all of us and it's easier to see if we're not consumed by our problems.

I was sceptical about the movie before watching it, I thought a serious matter like sex addiction could not be seen in a fun way. The movie actually proved me wrong and even though I would have liked to see a bit more of psychological depth to understand the whole love and sex addiction concept better, the take on this was quite innovative and optimist in a way. Loved Charlene's performance, the movie pushed me to research more about the actress and once I found out that the script is based on her real life experience, I can now see how authentic it is.

Viewers should know first and foremost that this film gets right at the heart of some topics that many find uncomfortable to even think of, let alone watch played out on screen for 80 mins. It is a (pleasantly) surprisingly frank depiction of sex in general, with a focus on specific inclinations/complulsions/hangups/etc relative to the addictive aspects of sex.

And that enough so that there was no future of international release or promos on late-night US tv. No chance of great stardom or adulation. But they did it anyway, and did it honestly, such that it (according to a similarly-afflicted friend) really speaks to the heart of the issue and how actual humans deal with it.

But, due praise given, the narrative was somewhat disjointed in presentation and the final cut a resultant disappointment to me. Not in the least because I think they poorly utilized the brilliant John Hawkes (and, yes, apologies for elevating the male role in a film that's not about him). For that matter, I found the equally brilliant Melissa Leo underutilized as well (also, not about her, I know).

While I endlessly applaud Ms. deGuzman's honesty and sheer courage to bring such a personal role to the screen as she did, I must be honest and say it did not, ultimately, work out that well.

Honest assessment is a 6/10, but I think such boldness and effort demands an extra star.

With any luck, Ms. deGuzman will be back soon with another film more complementary of her talents, and of the talents of those around her.