greg_mccain

This could be considered absurdist, but is actually existentialist. What is "normal?" What does it mean to be surrounded by normal people when your thinking is different? The acting is superb by all, but Michelle Williams has the understanding of the craft to lift this existential story to the realm of universal truth. Richard Ledes' writing and direction keeps us guessing, while also driving the story and us to recognize that we all are lost and looking for something while what we need exists always already in our lives. It also underlines how mental health is so misunderstood in our culture and is easily exploited by ideas of profit and control.

The acting is solid all around and lifts this to an entertaining movie despite the inexperienced direction and lack of depth in the writing. The midlife crisis/artist struggling to be true to his vision theme doesn't dive deep enough to say anything original. Nor does the dream/sexual fantasy as a distraction/outlet go beyond a cliched portrayal of sexual/artistic frustration.

The first 30 minutes or so felt repetitive in pacing, each scene reiterating the disconnect between the main characters with very subtle plot progression. Somewhere half way through, the tenderness between them deepens. It's not a yuk yuk rom com, but an exploration of a platonic relationship that charts the changes of each character. The lack of an overt sexual tension with easy hackneyed humor lifts it to being an exploration of how men and women interact within patriarchy and subverts presupposed ideas of those roles.