Weakness

Weakness (2010) follows a teacher who loses his wife during the holidays, and his life only continues to go downhill from there! This was a pretty decent film but it's very grey morally and this made me feel uneasy at times. Good performances from most of the actors though! It wasn't all that unique but was fun to follow along with.

The opening was a little strange as it introduced the characters in a somewhat unnatural fashion. At first I had a level of sympathy for Josh and his character, but the relationship between him and Danielle was just too dodgy and unfortunately made me dislike our 'protagonist'. However, the characters did feel real and the acting was mainly good! I liked Lily Rabe and Josh Charles the most. Unfortunately, Danielle Panabaker's acting wasn't all that good and felt way too over dramatic.

Following on from my previous point about the protagonist, this film brings up some really interesting themes but I just feel like it addresses them in strange and morally 'wrong' ways.

The score was a little basic but nice, and I absolutely loved the soundtrack! It was very mellow and helped set the tone of the film very well. The soundtrack really enhanced the viewing experience and I would've probably given the film a lower score without it.

The cinematography was quite low effort and there wasn't much in terms of distinctive colour schemes. The camerawork itself was decent and the film was consistently clear, but the focusing techniques could be very strange sometimes and felt rather amateur.

The film had a fairly poor start, but from there the pacing is steady all the way through and it's actually a rather engaging watch! Not much really happens, but I liked it this way, it allowed us to fully focus on the characters and their struggles in life.

WEAKNESS is a strange little film that in many ways describes the flailing sense of isolation so many people are feeling in contemporary society. While it tells a well constructed story it simultaneously pulls up the window shades on the realities of how far too many people have lost the positive direction of creating meaningful relationships. Michael Melamedoff is a young newcomer and this is his first full-length film - a work he both wrote and directed - and he gives evidence of a thinking man who has concerns about how we all function in this chaotic world.

High school English teacher Joshua Polansky (Bobby Cannavale, in an exceptionally fine performance) is a sweet guy whose pupils like him: outside the classroom his world is in shambles. He is married to the free-spirited Elizabeth (June Diane Raphael) whose hobby is making ceramic phalluses to sell at the local flea market and wants to try 'swinging' with another couple; his mother Lenore (Phyllis Somerville) is dying (and does die) from cancer leaving Joshua to care for his severely autistic, hospitalized brother Pete (Keith Nobbs) whose violent behavior results in his being removed from care; his best friend and fellow teacher in Health Education Bart (Josh Charles) attempts to use Joshua's appeal to women by competing for the attention of another fellow English teacher Katherine (Lily Rabe); after Lenore's death Joshua and his sensually frustrated wife Elizabeth must provide a home for Pete who usurps all of Joshua's time with baseball and games; Lenore's home must be fixed up and in trying to do so Joshua falls off the roof and injures his leg and Elizabeth must find a repairman to work the empty house. Joshua stays home on summer break, Elizabeth hires the handsome Alejandro (Daniel Sunjata) to repair Lenore's house - and begins an affair. The emotionally distraught Joshua falls in with a beautiful just-graduated pupil Danielle (Danielle Panabaker) and fears the consequences of having a relationship with a girl so young despite the fact that Elizabeth has now asked for a divorce. Events tumble in Joshua's train wreck of a life and how he confronts all of the endless issues that he faces finds him just plowing through life with a kind of nonchalance, just assuming that things will begin to improve without his urging.

That all of this works is due to the quality of writing and directing from Melamedoff and from consistently excellent performances not only form the brilliant Cannavale, but from everyone in the well-selected cast. The fact that we, the audience, can hang in there with Joshua as he outlines many of the failings of contemporary interpersonal relationships is a tribute to all involved in this fine little film.

Grady Harp