Scott Free Productions
John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener, Matt Walsh, Diane Mizota, Kathy Wittes, Kathryn Aselton, Jamie Donnelly, Tim Guinee
John (John C. Reilly) is a very lonely depressed guy. His wife has left him and is about to get married to someone new, but John has never gotten over it and it’s been SEVEN years. He still has a weird relationship with her and what’s more weird is that she seems to tolerate it. She invites him to a party where he meets Molly (Marisa Tomei) and they really hit it off. They jump into a relationship right away, but something strange is going on with Molly. John follows her home and finds out her secret. What happens through this is very uncomfortable to watch. Cyrus (Jonah Hill) is not about to let them live happily ever after, but how far will he go to prevent them from being together?
This is listed as a comedy film, but though there are some fairly funny parts, it is not fair to classify it as a comedy. It’s a character study and a look at modern dysfunctional relationships. It’s hard to determine who’s the most screwed up here. The story is also very realistic as well. There are a number of ways that this could turn out very badly, but it’s more like real life where no one is completely screwed up, but everyone has issues. I don’t want to go into too many details to that would give away too much of the story, as it’s much more fun to learn about each of the people one step at a time, but it’s fascinating to see how messed up each of them are. Both are very anxious to jump into a new relationship instantly without even knowing each other because they are both so sad and lonely for different reasons, but similarly desperate. I’m sure you probably won’t see the ending coming, even though it is the most logical, but when it does, it makes perfect sense. It’s just screwed up people leading screwed up lives looking for a little bit of a chance to be happy. And what is with the shoes.
I was riveted by the story, and fascinated with the development of the characters. I kept thinking I would turn it off for a bit to do some chores that needed to be done, but I couldn’t turn it off. I can see that this is probably not the “cup of tea” for those who like lots of excitement, big laughs, or plenty of action, but for a humorous psychological drama, this one fit the bill. Certainly off everyone’s radar, but a simple little film that satisfied.
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