Goliath

I saw this movie at the Sundance Film Festival with a packed audience. We all watched as a man had his life fall apart in a variety of different ways, the breaking point being the lost of his cat (hence the title). Sometimes it was extremely funny, sometimes extremely sad. The outbursts of laughter were equally matched by silent awe and quiet sadness.

It's not really about a cat, but about how people (this one man in particular) fixate on something in order to cope with what's not working around them. The divorce signing scene alone is brilliant. A challenging scene that everyone I went with talked about afterwards, a total range of emotions...

And without spoiling it, things turn from bad to worse for him and the cat. But the end has the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

I thought the filmmaker did a good job and treading a fine line between the absurdly funny, and the reality that comes w/ divorce, isolation, and lost.

Comedy and drama instant mix! I enjoyed watching it late at night after Kid-Thing by the same director.

Goliath made me laugh and almost cry at the same moment, strange new feeling! Unlike other people posting here, I really loved the longer takes, and especially the satiric signing of the divorce papers!

The scene with a "spear dance" - outstanding! The sex offender with a speaker - very creative writing. Acting is superb as well.

Highly recommended to everyone who is tired on watching all of those old people from Hollywood who will never let the new talent take them over!

In other words - Good job David!!! Great film, one of my favorites in 2016 so far!

The Zellners are filmmaking brothers from Austin, TX and they don't make conventional comedies. By this, I don't mean theirs is a cinema akin to the sort where you'd find Borat or Scott Pilgrim, I mean truly unconventional. The closest mainstream archetype I'd propose would be Steven Soderbergh when he made Schizopolis. If you watch expecting a laugh-out-loud, tidy story, then of course you'll be disappointed.

Goliath is a stark, simple story of a man who loses his cat while going through an emotionally wrenching divorce. While this scenario would likely find widespread appeal in a Hollywood comedy if handled in a broad, facile manner, The Zellner brothers craft the narrative in an unsettling slow-burn that may be as disturbing to some as it is humorous to others. So if you can appreciate a comedy that has traces of Fassbinder and the Kaurismakis as well as Mel Brooks, then maybe this one is for you.

We would have given it 2 stars, but the cat was cute. Would be a great short film if they edited it down to about 30 minutes. The filmmakers are know for their short films, and this time they made a full length film by taking a good short film and dragging out the scenes forever. Like the interminable scene of watching the couple sign their divorce papers. That should have lasted about 10 seconds. Or the scene where the guy eats his microwaved TV dinner. We would have gotten the point in a matter of moments. We don't need to watch him eat the whole thing. Also, the acting was just not that great. From the Sundance synopsis, I was expecting a comedy, but it just wasn't that funny.

I saw this movie at Sundance Film Festival and again at SXSW. The place was packed! At the Sundance Film Festival,this particular show was shown at 8:30 in the morning to a packed audience! Everyone seemed to get in the spirit of the film. I just viewed it again on the Sundance Movie channel - cable T.V. I am so glad to see that the movie is finally on television! We have been waiting for it to come out on DVD for some time as well. Regarding Goliath,the cat, he was a minor addition to the plot, but the center of the main character's life during a heart wrenching break-up with his wife. The movie is worth a view!