Men, Women, and Children

Sandler is depressed again, get the message?

We follow many different stories in this so I will just stick with the following as a synopsis: This movie follows the lives of four (or five) different families, all having trouble in some way.

So the story here is great in places, but falters elsewhere. I like one of the kids having a porn addiction that makes it hard for him to perform in bed; but, I thought the anorexia storyline was a bit too "after school special" for me. Sure it could have been a great, insightful look into the mental illness that leads to us taking our inferiority complex out on our bodies, but the way the director went about it was like listening to your parents say "You are beautiful no matter how you look." The other part of her story line wasn't much more interesting, basically falling for the wrong guy and making a mistake. The girl that lies to her friends about sex, and is over sexualized by her mother was interesting in some ways but again felt like a lecture on parenting. "Don't raise your kids like this, or they could turn out to be like this girl." The kid battling depression due to a divorce was a bit boring, and came to the conclusion everyone expected. The most interesting kid was the one that was being guarded by her over bearing mother. Just thinking about living under the types of rules this woman enforced on her daughter was enough to make me root for the daughter over every other character. The parents all have stories too, but you can tell this was the kid's movie. The most attention they paid to the parents was the affair Adam Sandler and his wife were having. It was interesting, and artistic; but, ended up being background noise in a sea of angst. Basically, I like the story, but I would have loved it if the director didn't try to beat me over the head with the message.

The direction on this was beautiful. The most prominent noises came from the click of a keyboard or the texting sound from a phone. Jason Reitman may have basically been preaching with this movie, but he at least knows how to put it together correctly. Since I love most all of his films it is a little weird for me to say this movie just didn't hit home quite as much, even though it was beautiful to look at. I definitely didn't hate it, I definitely wouldn't say I regret going to the theater to see it; but, I just wanted to be talking about this movie for the rest of the year. Maybe my expectations were a bit too high. At least I can admit that he was a little too preachy in the movie, and I am not overcome by fanboy idolization. At least the style and acting were home runs.

The acting here was great, and yes that does include Adam Sandler. Adam does one thing very well when he does drama (and it turns out to be the only thing he does in drama) and that is: act depressed. The kid's in this all acted great and I know at least a few have screen experience. Dean Norris did well as the father that couldn't relate to his son, while trying to find out how to date after his wife abandons him. Jennifer Garner made me dislike her character, so that is a win for her. The biggest tip of the hat I have to give is to the narration voiced by Emma Thompson. When she says words like "erection," "fuck," and "big dick" it is like hearing a noble woman slum it. It is practically porn for the ears. Where ever the story faltered the actors picked up the slack.

Final Verdict: See it in Theaters (if you can) So this is an independent movie; and as such, not available in all theaters; but, since I don't have another rating to fully explain my feelings toward this movie there it is. If you have the option, see it in theaters.