Answers to Nothing

Answers to Nothing is that rare combination of an ensemble cast grappling with life's complexities without descending into heavy handed storytelling. It both lifts you up and crushes you down as you recognize the various shades of yourself in the characters. I have been weary of ensemble dramas like this since the manipulative'Crash', but I felt the director and cast did a superb job and the emotion really builds to something tangible and rewarding. The singer Aja Volkman of 'Nico Vega'provides an emotional charge right through the film and Mad Men actor Mark Kelly gives a great turn as a gamer/High School teacher out for justice. Great film - highly recommended.

This movie surprised me. There were some really great performances from people I didn't expect, namely Dane Cook. He seems to be a very divisive person in pop culture and I found his performance emotional and honest. It was a sort of a slow story that was all building to the twists at the end. It felt like Crash or other movies where all of these random stories collide in dramatic ways.

Some parts I sort of got bored with the pacing of the story. But there were also some really nice moments. Like when the amazing Elizabeth Mitchell buys baby clothes and stuffed animals and can't tell the check out lady she doesn't have a child. And then she has the box in her trunk full of baby clothes. That was beautiful acted and very emotional.

I also thought all of the scenes with the paralyzed brother and the recovering alcoholic sister. It just felt real and raw and I like it.

Good movie if you want something a bit on the dark side.

"I'm buried in the armor, I'm an iron man." After a child is abducted this movie deals with the following five days and a group of people including the single mom who is investigating the case. Her sister (Mitchell) who wants to get pregnant badly but her husband (Cook) is cheating on her. A school teacher who is obsessed with finding the missing girl. An alcoholic who is taking care of her wheel chair bound brother and a self hating black woman who wants to fall in love. I have to begin by saying that this is not a movie for everyone. Very slow moving in some parts and not a happy movie at all. That said I really enjoyed this. Dane Cook is a huge surprise in this role and is actually a very good dramatic actor. This movie shows how each person is somehow intertwined in each other's lives and how one life effects the other. While not nearly as good as "Crash" it does have that type of feel to it. This is a movie that you must be in the mood for and is a struggle at first, but the last half hour makes you glad you stuck with it. Overall, the type of movie that leaves you thinking about it long after it is over. I recommend this. I give it a B.

I was blown away at how raw and honest this film was. It dealt with real, difficult issues that most, if not all people can relate to. There are affairs, disabilities, prejudice, and a kidnapping. Each main character is likable yet broken, and each are changed by how their lives intertwine. Each actor does a fantastic job, with the exception of Dane Cook, who I think had a calculated somewhat forced performance. Overall, this film is touching and convicting. It challenges the audience to look at their own lives and to take action where it is needed to end injustice. I highly recommend it to anyone, especially if you feel like your life is stagnant and needs some motivation.

Writer/director Matthew Leutwyler manages to challenge the concentration and intellect and attention span of the viewer in this non-linear and ultimately satisfying intertwining of stories that examine the bad in the best of us and the good in the worst of us. Against the backdrop of a child abduction case (person of interest is next door neighbor Beckworth (Greg Germann) we follow five days in the life of Frankie, a single parent detective (Julie Benz) assigned to the case, her best friend Kate (Elizabeth Mitchell) whose determination to get pregnant keeps her from confronting Ryan (Dane Cook) her psychologist husband's infidelity with rock singer Tara (Aja Volkman) while he is attempting to reconcile his parents (his fragile mother played by Barbara Hershey) long separation, an on-line video game addicted school teacher Carter (Mark Kelly) and his obsession with the missing child that pushes him to the edge of vigilantism, a beat cop Jerry (Erik Palladino) grieving over the violent death of his wife, Drew (Miranda Bailey) recovering addict and her wheel chair bound brother Erik (Vincent Vinteresca)preparing for the LA marathon, and Allegra (Kali Hawk), a self-loathing African American TV writer's search for love who happens to be a patient of Ryan's (and who is on the brink of a mixed courtships with a shy and likely virginal Evan played by Zack Gifford). The string of stories asks us to look at their lives (and ours!) and to take action where it is needed to end injustice.

The cast of characters is so strong that despite the rather confusing progress o the story we get to know each character very well. The ending is exceptionally well handled. This is one o those surprise films that appears on the surface to be one of those shallow/too much too fast director's egomaniacal art films, but by film's end the audience simply cannot fail to be touched in many different positive ways.

Grady Harp