Dedication

Response to Boston Globe review (9/21/07) It took dedication and perseverance to see the Sundance Festival (not mentioned) film "Dedication" after reading your negative review. Having overcome the barriers created by your dissection of characters and plot I was surprised to find the film both rewarding and enjoyable despite Mandy Moore's hair color. The cinematography was fresh as was the use of music. The characters had emotional dimensions of complexity and interest in contrast to the flat facades too often presented in today's films. Henry's deep neuroses were believably quirky and contributed to the intrigue of an unpredictable character. His intense dialog with his dead friend and partner gave vent to his inner confusion and added a charmingly bizarre facet of interest to the film. I regret that you did not recognize the film's attributes.

This is a great great movie.

Billy Cudrup is so believable as a crazy person. I have never seen a performance like this before.

Mandy Moore is sweet and perfect. Great chemistry between the two.

The script is fresh and funny.

The only con I can think of is that they use a kind of irritating stop action flash movement to indicate the passage of time. Didn't like that and it seemed out of place.

The music is also outstanding. Great choice of songs.

It is a great love-story, but told in a different and beautiful way. A true delight.

I just watched this film and have to say it is one of the most endearing films I've seen in a long time. Think of it as "Mozart and the Whale" but more painful and more true life problems and neuroses, but also more heartwarming. Billy Crudup does a great job as the self-hating and world-hating pessimist in this movie. His wonderful portrayal of such an awful, yet complicated character, makes it all the more enjoyable to see him come around and finally warm up to someone. I've seen Mandy Moore in films before and thought shes always been a better actress then people give her credit for, and this film goes to show that. This is Justin Thoreaux's directorial debut and a wonderful one at that. The writing is superb and the directing and acting only lend to the wonderful script. Tom Wilkinson gives another wonderful performance as he always does. If you want to see a film that'll make you laugh despite hating the characters at times, but some how still miraculously fall in love with them and root for them, then this is definitely the movie for you. It isn't your usual romantic comedy, and putting it that genre is a stretch in itself, but it is one of the smartest and most warm hearted movies you'll see this year.

I just finished watching this movie and thought I should pen down my thoughts. I would like to add a few disclaimers before recommending it.

For viewers who expect a romantic comedy, this is not your average rom-com genre movie. And for avid movie buffs, this ain't the first attempt of its kind either. This has shades of Trust (1990), Music and Lyrics (2007), As Good as it Gets (1997) and a few others.

But the familiarity worked for me. Also, not knowing what the movie was about did work for me too.

Watch this if you want a romance with quirky and intelligent characterization. Considering, it is both the writer's and the director's debut feature film, it is fantastic.

I just saw this at Sundance and it's probably the best Sundance I've ever seen. The Director Justin Theroux was at the showing and answered some questions and he said some interesting things. First the whole movie was done on a 1M dollar budget and they shot it in 23 days.

As for the movie, it was a very different movie from the music to the cinematography with a fresh taste to it. The main character Henry Roth played by Billy Crudup was an amazing role. I wouldn't be surprised to hear awards galore for Crudup. Equally as impressive was Mandy Moore, I expected very little out of Moore but she delivered an amazing performance that will surprise many and officially launch her acting career, and establish her as a top talent.

It's a story of mental disorders and people falling in love in unlikely circumstances. At times it can get scary as the writer does an amazing job of keeping you guessing. It's without an amazing movie and I'd recommend it to anybody.