And here we have yet another indie drama about the unbearable weight of being alive that bores the shit out of people. Aren’t the lives of these people so complicated and tragic? Aren’t all our lives? Isn’t it so damned hard to live a good life and forge meaningful connections with the opposite sex? Maybe the answers to all these questions are “yes.” But I don’t think so. And honestly, even if I did, I don’t think it would interest me to see that reflected on the screen. Why does “adult drama” mean boring people doing half stupid things that I’m almost embarrassed to witness? How does that deepen my understanding of the human condition? I just don’t know what people see in these films.
Well, okay, I think I know what people see. They see what they believe to be their understanding of the world reflected in the film. I guess they can identify with these people (God help them). I don’t, personally. And maybe that’s why I have contempt for these sorts of films. Or maybe it’s because every problem a person in a film like this has could be solved by effective communication. Either way, they never get me.
That’s not to say that there isn’t the occasional moment or two that works for me. In fact, in this film, almost all of it seems to work on the level that the characters and their interactions seem believable (I’m sure there are people who behave exactly this way somewhere out there). The moment in which Mark Ruffalo’s Jack tells his mistress Edith (Naomi Watts) that their spouses are having an affair and the pain-filled sex that follows hits the perfect emotional note. The look on Watts’s face as the scene ends is particularly powerful. That being said, I’ve never had sex like that and, although I’m sure it happens, I really don’t know how well what I’m seeing reflects the reality of that situation. Basically, the film convinced me that this is what it would be like but I really don’t know.
But, for as many moments that work wonderfully, there are just as many moments that are painful and annoying. And mostly, at the end of the film, I’m left with the impression that the level of commitment of everyone involved in this project could have been put to much better use.
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