I just think
Logan reviews put it slightly too high, Rotten Tomatoes has it at 92% which seems a bit over the top. I'd put it high 70s/low 80s at most due to the subject matter not being accessible to a broad audience. I think the high scores might be due to overreaction as Fox often makes some bizarre plot choices in their movies, but played it straight here.
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Super 8 for me was one of those films where yeah, it starts off promising but veers off into the uninteresting. It doesn't help that it has shades of
in it.
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Stumbled on
Infinitely Polar Bear on the television last night. It's kind of an autobiographical piece/memoir to the father of the director, Maya Forbes, who had bipolar disorder. Stars Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana, with Imogene Wolodarsky (Forbes' daughter) and Ashley Aufderheide rounding out things as their daughters, Amelia and Faith.
Based in Boston in the late 1970s. After suffering a breakdown, Cameron (Ruffalo) loses his job and is institutionalized for a time. Upon his release, he tries to reconcile with his family but wife Maggie (Saldana) is hesitant to pick up where they left off. But when Maggie gets an opportunity to go to grad school in New York and weighs the options, she asks Cameron if he would be willing to step in and care for the children while she studies. Cameron reluctantly agrees, hesitant because of the commitment it would require on his part and still unsure of himself and his condition.
Although it deals with some very serious issues, the tone stays very light and airy and the movie flies by. The dynamic between Cameron and his daughters in particular is very eccentric yet warm and kept us chuckling. Ruffalo is fantastic all around in this and really carries the movie, this may be the best work I've seen from him. He somehow manages to balance the unsavory characteristics alongside Cameron's love for his children very well. It's also refreshing to see Saldana in a role that lets her stretch her legs a bit, although her performance is somewhat muted in comparison.
I also enjoyed the setting, as someone born in 1979 and who had a similar upbringing, certain scenes in particular resonated a lot with me.
The only nitpick from me would be that it never deeply delves into the painful side of things, whenever things start to go south, the boat rights itself pretty quickly.
Verdict: Worth a watch.