This was a romance comedy starring Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, and Rachel Bilson. The film was about a soon to be 30 man (Zach Braff) facing the end of his life in the way that he was having a child ready to buy a house and settle down for good. Upon this realization he becomes fearful that life has no more surprises for him so he finds refuge in a twenty something college junior (Rachel Bilson).
This film was full of great performances from a few lesser known actors. Zach Braff (Scrubs) gave a great performance that was pretty typical of his characters ie: aging man unready to face life and the deck he's dealt even though it's better than 3/4 of Americans could ever wish for. Jacinda Barret played Braff's major love interest in the film and also gave an above average performance. There were times when I thought maybe she took a scene too far to the point where it was unbelievable but then I realized if I were in the same situation she would have taken it just far enough. Her violent mood swings sometimes seemed too staged and crazy but overall I think she did a fantastic job playing a pregnant woman with an asshole boyfriend. Rachel Bilson was probably the weakest player in the game while portraying "Kim" Zach Braff's twenty something fling. Her character lacked real development and she pushed the crazy aspect a little too hard. I do have to give her props for taking the role of a blatant whore. In a movie full of damaged then repaired characters hers may have the worst ending of them all.
Co-starring in the film was one of my favorites Casey Affleck (The Assasination of Jesse James, Gone Baby Gone, Oceans 11-13) Michael Weston, and Blythe Danner. Performances were very convincing from all and you really felt pulled into the lives and troubles of each individual character. Overall the film was far from what I expected after seeing the previews. Bilson's character was shown in a very poor light whereas I expected her to be an alternative wife to Braff. There were many very low lows unbalanced with not enough highs but in the end you just have to think sometimes thats the way life is. I would recommend this film for any fan of Zach Braff or anyone interested in a very original take on life and love in a romantic comedy.
Hope you enjoyed my very first official review, I'll be back frequently writing about every new or old film that I see. Hopefully my writing skills improve as I'm sure there are plenty of grammatical flaws in this blog, and hopefully I hone my reviewer's skills as I progress. Thanks for reading hope to see you back soon!
Hey Char, good post. This is a movie that I've always liked. I totally agree with Bilson's character. I think it was written poorly. Her acting is good but nothing special.
ReplyDeleteI think it was written well to some extent and then took some easy ways out. Like you said, there is some over the top parts and some characters only come out to be two dimensional.
I love movies about pretty much nothing. He was a completely flawed character and the whole time you relate to him slightly and try to force yourself to like him. In the end, I don't even know if I like him.
Keep 'em coming! Nice stuff.