Men, Women & Children
- 2014
- Tous publics
- 1h 59m
A group of high school teenagers and their parents attempt to navigate the many ways the Internet has changed their relationships, their communications, their self-images, and their love liv... Read allA group of high school teenagers and their parents attempt to navigate the many ways the Internet has changed their relationships, their communications, their self-images, and their love lives.A group of high school teenagers and their parents attempt to navigate the many ways the Internet has changed their relationships, their communications, their self-images, and their love lives.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Narrator
- (voice)
- Brooke Benton
- (as Katherine C. Hughes)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Every character had their kinks and quirks, a singularity about them that some people might call one dimensional, I disagree. The message wouldn't have been so loud and clear if the characters didn't have a stereotypical aspect to them. By the way what was the message? It sure feels like there's one but the at the same time it doesn't feel like it's patronizing message. I think it is whatever you feel it is, you will definitely leave with something, but it might not be the same as the people who sat next to you. In that sense the movie feels neutral, showing you how it is and how it can affect lives.
The movie is not as heavy as the trailers suggest, well it is heavy but there were light and funny moments that helped not making the film a drag. The way Reitman opened his subject made sense and it was tastefully done. Unlike the web he left some things to the imagination or implied them. The film goes to "scary" places, revealing some heavy uncomfortable things about teenagers, parents, couples, and society. You go to these places because it's done every so slightly, tastefully, step by step.
It was a great assemble of a cast, there is not a bad performance in this movie. Each of the actors play their part on this beautiful movie that is Men, Women & Children.
If you haven't seen this movie, please check it out, and I would like to know if the movie resonated with you? Tweet me @wornoutspines
The film is an ensemble drama, about the effect the internet and technology has had on relationships, intimate or otherwise. They're no groundbreaking original story lines. There is a Romeo (Ansel Elgort) and his Juliet (Kaitlyn Dever). A marriage is on the rocks (Adam Sandler and Rosemarie Dewitt). An overbearing mother trying to control her daughter (Jennifer Garner). An unwitting parent trying to live through her child (Judy Greer and Olivia Crocicchia). A newly single parent trying to connect with his video game addicted son (Dean Norris and Ansel Elgort). An impressionable teenage girl dealing with severe body image issues.
All of the actors did a proficient job. Adam Sandler was excellent, in his first straight drama role since Reign Over Me (or Funny People, if you'd count that). Ansel Elgort and Kaitlyn Dever had both breakout performances. Each of their characters plights will your break your heart, and leave you rooting for them. And most of all, Jennifer Garner was as good as I've seen her in years. She did such an incredible job to make me hate her character as much as I did.
It's a linear story from a big studio with an independent feel. Emotional fireworks are few in this movie. Some of the quieter moments feel the loudest.
This story is timeless. Nobody understands technology in this world. Not the teenagers who superficially know how to use it, and not the parents who are mostly right to be afraid of it. No one understands it. Every character in this story believes the internet can solve their problems. They are searching for a way to mask their wounds. It's ironic that the internet provides anonymity, but those who search for it most crave human connection.
There's also Hannah (Olivia Crocicchia), a fame-obsessed cheerleader who force-feeds her sexuality to everyone around her in hopes of blazing a path to stardom, Kardashian style. It doesn't help that she's enabled by her mom, Donna (Judy Greer), a failed actress who constantly snaps photos of her daughter for a "modeling" website that happens to include a private section reserved for paying members. Hannah has a thing for Chris (Travis Tope), Don's football player son whose own internet porn habits would not only put his dad's to shame, but have also left him unable to become aroused by anything but the images on his monitor.
Most tragic and heartbreaking of all is Allison (Elena Kampouris), so desperate to catch the eye of her crush that she developed an eating disorder after overhearing him make a disparaging comment about her weight. Now pale and waifish, she maintains her figure by seeking "support" from an online forum dedicated to staying thin at any cost, offering such helpful hunger-battling hints as "drink water and wait five minutes." Their slogan? "Pretty bitches never eat."
At the opposite end of the spectrum is Patricia (Jennifer Garner), a suburban parent who redefines the term "overprotecrive" as she demands that daughter Brandy (Kaitlyn Dever) surrender her cell phone on a regular basis so that she can read her emails and text messages, in addition to poring over pages of chat logs and using a GPS locator app to monitor her daughter's movements whenever she leaves the house. Patricia is convinced that she's keeping Brandy safely out of harm's way, yet remains oblivious to the fact that she's stifling any chance of her having a normal teenage existence.
And then there's Tim (Ansel Elgort), a star running back who elected to quit the football team in favor of investing his time in online role-playing games. Tim's interpretation of Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot (a recurring theme throughout the film) is that nothing matters in the grand scheme of things, so why bother investing in a "pointless" activity like football? He's much more content to form connections with other like-minded individuals in a virtual world, while growing increasingly distant from his father (Dean Norris), who continues to cope with the sudden departure of Tim's mother the previous year.
If that sounds like a lot to keep track of, you're correct. As the film progresses, each character is faced with their own individual conflicts, while simultaneously crossing paths with other characters and creating new conflicts along the way. It's not only gut- wrenching to see how commonplace cruelty has become in today's digital world, but terrifying to see how broadly we can all be affected by it. Seemingly innocuous decisions turn out to have major, far-reaching consequences, with actions affecting other characters in surprising ways. It's unapologetically reminiscent of Crash, which admittedly pulled off the same trick in a much more organic fashion that was far more believable.
But that's not to say that Men, Women and Children doesn't feel authentic. Having been acquainted with people that have struggled with eating disorders, depression, or poor self esteem, every performance in the film is pitch perfect, and it's almost frightening how expertly Reitman nails some of these issues. If you're looking for a film that will send you home with a smile on your face, this one isn't it. But if you want a thoughtful, genuine depiction of the how far our communication skills and regard for our fellow humans have fallen, look no further.
Did you know
- TriviaThis movie premiered in U.S. theaters on October 1, 2014. It was removed from all U.S. theaters by October 30, and made less than one million dollars domestically.
- GoofsGuild Wars does not have a monthly subscription fee, so Tim's dad couldn't cancel anything by calling his credit card company.
- Quotes
[Last lines]
Narrator: [recites extract from Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot, A Vision of the Human Future in Space] That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was lived out their lives. Every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there on the mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. How frequent their misunderstandings, how fervent their hatreds. Our imagined self-importance, the delusions that we have some privileged position in the Universe are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. Like it or not, for the moment, the earth is where we make our stand.There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits, than this distant image of our tiny world. It underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Nostalgia Critic: Does "American Beauty" Still Hold Up? (2014)
- SoundtracksBrandenburg Concerto No. 2 In F BWV 1047
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Hedwig Bilgram, Manfred Clement, Hans-Martin Linde, Münchener Bach-Orchester, Karl Richter, Hansheinz Schneeberger and Pierre Thibaud
Courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon GmbH under license from Universal Music Enterprises
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Hombres, mujeres y niños
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $16,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $705,908
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $48,024
- Oct 5, 2014
- Gross worldwide
- $1,705,908
- Runtime
- 1h 59m(119 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1