6 Balloons

I say "surprisingly" because I usually rely on Metacritic scores, which were just OK for this one, with less than 10 reviewers being counted on for their score. But at just 74 minutes, it was so short that I wanted to watch it. And even though I knew it was a drama, I like Abbi Jacobson from "Broad City," and wanted to see what she would be like in this role. She was very good, as was Dave Franco, who I don't normally care for. And there was a real chemistry between the two of them. "6 Balloons" is intentionally uncomfortable to watch, but it was a good story, and very well-acted by everyone, but especially by Jacobson and Franco.

While it wasn't perfect, I can say from the personal experience of having spouse addicted to heroin, that this film honestly and truly captures the emotional horror and torment involved. Again its not perfect, but much of it is incredibly raw, emotional, and truthfully portrays drug addiction and how it affects people involved. The film centers around a woman who discovers her brother has relapsed on heroin, and embarks on a brutal journey to get him to a detox center, while at the same time dealing with her own life. The film perfectly portrays the duality of a person who has an addicted spouse, being emotionally torn between your own life and the spouse you love and want to get better. The tone is extremely thick with turmoil, suspense, and emotional intensity. Portraying a spouse who will literally do anything to help her sick brother. I can say from personal experience that this film gets very many things right, nails them even.

Now, because I'm a adult white man, I was never really the demographic for Broad City, so I never watched it or wanted to. But I found Abby Jacobson's performance to be excellent, a woman torn between her life and her drug addicted brother, feeling in a void between the two. Dave Franco's performance as the drug addict is also authentically played, kudos to him. Some of the dialog between members of the family is pretty average and nothing special but what is special is the dialog and intensity between the brother addict and the sister. Their dialog is many of the things I said to my spouse who was addicted to heroin, as well as the way others talk to the brother and sister, the pharmacy scene hits it right on the nose, very accurate. So all in all I like the film even though not every aspect was perfect, I found it very raw and emotional and would highly recommend it as a watch.

*Not REALLY a spoiler.* Coming from someone who has personally dealt with this issue, it is extremely true to life. I could see how a person who hasn't been on either end of the spectrum could be quick to judge films about addiction (for example, thinking "that wouldn't happen or she/he would never do that). But believe me, it does and they do. While this isn't the best film I've seen dealing with addiction, it is an amazing portrayal of how addiction is a family disease (especially w/codependence) and is so so brutal. Abbi Jacobson nailed her role, as did Dave Franco. As for the actual "film", I thought it was really well done. There's a kind of narrative throughout this that I liked a lot. I prefer a character study and good plot/story over a big budget, full of explosions and car chases movie. So if you're looking for that sort of thing you may not enjoy this as much as myself. So yes, definitely recommend:)

6 balloons is about Kathy (played by Abbi Jacobson) finding out that her brother Seth (played by Dave Franco) has relapsed in his heroin addiction and this just before organizing a birthday party for her husband. It's a believable drama about dealing with a junkie in the family. Well almost believable. You can see his suffering while going cold turkey and her suffering with the dilemma between helping her brother score drugs or bringing him to a rehabilitation center instead. The suffering is believable, but for a hardcore junkie they could have said something about the constant lying, about the stealing, and about the physical signs of deterioration due to addiction. He looked well to clean to pass as a heroin addict. The acting was good, the story also, but it could have used a bit more drama to me to make it more real. Good enough to watch once though.

I watched it all the way through. While it was a fairly accurate take on what it's like to love an addict, it's also incredibly underwhelming.