Mickey and the Bear

First-time feature director Annabelle Attanasio gets excellent performances from her cast, led by the talented Camila Morrone and James Badge Dale, but her original screenplay fails to make the grade.

This is a real downer, a depressing slice of life film that injects numerous topical themes, ranging from the fate of damaged war vets, the nation's addiction crisis to problems of caregivers, while failing to develop them fully. Instead we have Morrone as an 18-year-old heroine faced with the difficult choice of staying to care for her hopelessly destructive father or escape to a new life away from him, but by the end of the movie the choice is virtually made for her by taking away all her other options.

Many red herrings are employed by Attanasio in this grim saga, which produces quite a bit of tension, never released for the viewer. There is an element of escapism in that the audience can feel relieved they are not suffering such awful circumstances as the characters endure, but that hardly makes for a recommendation.

As with so many other "film festival fodder" movies, it's designed for consumption by an elite audience of cinephiles. As a card carrying member of that unfortunate group, I wasn't pleased with the blatant visual reference to Truffaut's "400 Blows", not advisable if one wants his or her work to be taken seriously.

Great movie the best I have ever seen compares to the Days of Wine and Roses and The Lost Weekend. This depicts addiction realistically as it hasn't been depicted in at decades .Not only that but also how insidious it is and how it affects the people who are a round it and the denial by all .The devastation . Incredibly well written directed and acted. Really deserves Oscar recognition since presently our society is permeated with it

This is a special portrait of life in the hinterlands of America, where young people face a daunting future due to their lack of opportunity and sense of obligation to family. Mickey turns 18 in the course of the story, and already has the responsibilities of an adult since she cares for her traumatized addict father, while she tries to enjoy the sparse excitement of her small Montana town. She clearly has a decision to make: stay in this place where she will watch her father die from his damage or flee to a desperate but liberating unknown elsewhere.

This actually reminded me somewhat of 'Leave No Trace', which came out the year before with its story of a nomadic father-daughter trying to survive under the weight of his trauma. That family was constantly seeking somewhere safe to go, but for Mickey and her dad, there is utterly nowhere to go, and that sense of futility becomes palpable when she faces a choice between her ignorant boyfriend and a sensitive foreigner. And as it turns out, choices are often illusory.

Young people benefit from movies like this, since girls can see how their empowerment can be corrupted by men's expectations and boys can see the reasons they need to abandon their arrogant egos.

I wanna give it 8, but I dont like how the movie end, but I love the story, first time I see the trailer I think she had old boyfriend, but it's her dad 🙂 good movie

The gross take of less than $60,000 should tell you something. There is nothing original. Looks like they took good actors and made them embarrass themselves.