Made in 2012, this strange little film is now finally seeing the light of day.
Ostensibly, the film is a blend of serious "issue" drama (in this case Sex addiction and the battle to beat it using the AA 12 step programme) and a romantic comedy, though the mixture is often a little off-putting and intoxicating, as if mixed by a competent but not expert barman.
The film follows the stories of three New York "Sex Addicts anonymous" members at three distinct stages of 12 step treatment: Start - Middle - Veteran. The "vet" is Mike (Tim Robbins) who has been "sober" of both sex and other vices (drink and drugs mainly) for over 15 years and is the head guru of this circle. His protégé is Adam (Mark Ruffalo) a successful eco-businessman who is also a sex addict, and has been "clean" for 5 years. Adam has been sober enough now to have his own "paduan", in this case typical comic overweight Jewish nerd-boy doctor Neil (Josh Gad) who finds his kicks touching up women on subways, looking up fellow employees skirts and copious masturbation (no actual sex for the sad fattie though eh?) who is there courtesy of a court order and psychiatric report.
The three each have their own little "dramas" that intercutting and crossing, make up the film. Mike finds his happiness challenged when his twentysomething son Danny (Patrick Fugit) turns up out of the blue. A former drug addict who had stolen from his parents, he is eager to make amends with both his father and his mother Katie (Joely Richardson), Mike however is defensive and dismissive of his son, preferring Adam as a surrogate son figure, forcing Danny to bring up all Mikes own horrific past sins inflicted upon him and Katie, causing both a violent fight between father and son and a terrible crisis of faith in the stone cold sober guru.
Adam meanwhile is now at a place where he can have a "committed relationship" in which to allow his mended sexuality to bloom. The ideal lady appears at a party in the form of health nut and breast cancer survivor Phoebe (Gwyneth Paltrow) but her off hand remark about never again dating an addict (she had previous with an alcoholic) forces him to hide his condition, until she discovers it. Although their relationship continues, mistrust starts to creep in and the two are forced apart, sending Adam on his own dark night of the sexual soul. When a former conquest, Becky (Emily Meade) offers to reignite things, a strange role play game reveals her own demons and almost ends in tragedy, forcing him to reassess his direction.
Neil meantime is in constant denial, not taking the program or Adam's mentorship seriously until one trick too far gets him fired from hospital. Forced to pull himself by the bootstraps for the first time, he finds solace, companionship and mutual support with another newbie, a female, Dede (Alecia Moore, aka rock star "Pink") whose sex addiction has wrecked countless lives including her own. The two form a strong, yet healthily platonic bond, and together turn the corner once and for all.
The film's tone is a strange one. It wants to play as a romantic comedy (and is marketed as such) with drama overtones, yet ends up appearing more like one of those stern moral warning movies that various leagues for decency-morality used to put out to warn the unsuspecting of their sinful ways and force them to repent before it is too late, the kind that have been parodied to death, or become cult items ("Reefer Madness" in particular). There is a strong strain of good old fashioned finger- wagging moralism running through it, that sexuality is not normal or healthy in itself (even if it sometimes produces pain or awkwardness) but only, as the film puts it, "is expressed in a healthy committed relationship". No one wears silver rings, but you feel they're somewhere in Mike's drawer. That would be fine if it didn't overpower the romance, comedy or drama, all of which are tainted by this pulpit moralism so that they no longer feel natural or living. This is especially true in Becky's case, where her sexy role play game cum mental breakdown is so utterly unrealistic and forced that it provokes laughter instead of the desired horror and shock.
Writer-director Stuart Blumberg handles the film well and it looks and flows very nicely, but it is the illustrious cast he has assembled that really save the film. Robbins gives it his all and manages to make his long dark of the soul believable, ably assisted by Richardson and Fugit. Gad is excellent, being both schlubby and sensitive, a loser and a winner, and is probably the best of the trio. He is well helped by Pink, who proves she has a good career ahead of her as an actress under her real name (as per rapper-singer turned actor rules!) and provides a depth and humanity lacking in many professionals. Ruffalo and Paltrow, excellent and always welcome actors, were clearly hired as an availability job-lot after "The Avengers" (it was made immediately afterwards in the same city) and seem to be playing much the same characters. Ruffalo is Banner-esque in quiet zen mode trying to keep a lid on the monster inside while Paltrow is in full Pepper Potts mode, sparky, spunky, wise cracking and condescending. It makes one dream of how a Banner-Potts relationship might blossom if Tony Stark were out of the picture for a while.
Rather like a free bowl of soup you get at a church meeting, it is an enjoyable enough morsel to warrant sitting through a fire and brimstone sermon, with great actors and decent direction, but bear in mind it won't be a conventional romantic comedy!
Ostensibly, the film is a blend of serious "issue" drama (in this case Sex addiction and the battle to beat it using the AA 12 step programme) and a romantic comedy, though the mixture is often a little off-putting and intoxicating, as if mixed by a competent but not expert barman.
The film follows the stories of three New York "Sex Addicts anonymous" members at three distinct stages of 12 step treatment: Start - Middle - Veteran. The "vet" is Mike (Tim Robbins) who has been "sober" of both sex and other vices (drink and drugs mainly) for over 15 years and is the head guru of this circle. His protégé is Adam (Mark Ruffalo) a successful eco-businessman who is also a sex addict, and has been "clean" for 5 years. Adam has been sober enough now to have his own "paduan", in this case typical comic overweight Jewish nerd-boy doctor Neil (Josh Gad) who finds his kicks touching up women on subways, looking up fellow employees skirts and copious masturbation (no actual sex for the sad fattie though eh?) who is there courtesy of a court order and psychiatric report.
The three each have their own little "dramas" that intercutting and crossing, make up the film. Mike finds his happiness challenged when his twentysomething son Danny (Patrick Fugit) turns up out of the blue. A former drug addict who had stolen from his parents, he is eager to make amends with both his father and his mother Katie (Joely Richardson), Mike however is defensive and dismissive of his son, preferring Adam as a surrogate son figure, forcing Danny to bring up all Mikes own horrific past sins inflicted upon him and Katie, causing both a violent fight between father and son and a terrible crisis of faith in the stone cold sober guru.
Adam meanwhile is now at a place where he can have a "committed relationship" in which to allow his mended sexuality to bloom. The ideal lady appears at a party in the form of health nut and breast cancer survivor Phoebe (Gwyneth Paltrow) but her off hand remark about never again dating an addict (she had previous with an alcoholic) forces him to hide his condition, until she discovers it. Although their relationship continues, mistrust starts to creep in and the two are forced apart, sending Adam on his own dark night of the sexual soul. When a former conquest, Becky (Emily Meade) offers to reignite things, a strange role play game reveals her own demons and almost ends in tragedy, forcing him to reassess his direction.
Neil meantime is in constant denial, not taking the program or Adam's mentorship seriously until one trick too far gets him fired from hospital. Forced to pull himself by the bootstraps for the first time, he finds solace, companionship and mutual support with another newbie, a female, Dede (Alecia Moore, aka rock star "Pink") whose sex addiction has wrecked countless lives including her own. The two form a strong, yet healthily platonic bond, and together turn the corner once and for all.
The film's tone is a strange one. It wants to play as a romantic comedy (and is marketed as such) with drama overtones, yet ends up appearing more like one of those stern moral warning movies that various leagues for decency-morality used to put out to warn the unsuspecting of their sinful ways and force them to repent before it is too late, the kind that have been parodied to death, or become cult items ("Reefer Madness" in particular). There is a strong strain of good old fashioned finger- wagging moralism running through it, that sexuality is not normal or healthy in itself (even if it sometimes produces pain or awkwardness) but only, as the film puts it, "is expressed in a healthy committed relationship". No one wears silver rings, but you feel they're somewhere in Mike's drawer. That would be fine if it didn't overpower the romance, comedy or drama, all of which are tainted by this pulpit moralism so that they no longer feel natural or living. This is especially true in Becky's case, where her sexy role play game cum mental breakdown is so utterly unrealistic and forced that it provokes laughter instead of the desired horror and shock.
Writer-director Stuart Blumberg handles the film well and it looks and flows very nicely, but it is the illustrious cast he has assembled that really save the film. Robbins gives it his all and manages to make his long dark of the soul believable, ably assisted by Richardson and Fugit. Gad is excellent, being both schlubby and sensitive, a loser and a winner, and is probably the best of the trio. He is well helped by Pink, who proves she has a good career ahead of her as an actress under her real name (as per rapper-singer turned actor rules!) and provides a depth and humanity lacking in many professionals. Ruffalo and Paltrow, excellent and always welcome actors, were clearly hired as an availability job-lot after "The Avengers" (it was made immediately afterwards in the same city) and seem to be playing much the same characters. Ruffalo is Banner-esque in quiet zen mode trying to keep a lid on the monster inside while Paltrow is in full Pepper Potts mode, sparky, spunky, wise cracking and condescending. It makes one dream of how a Banner-Potts relationship might blossom if Tony Stark were out of the picture for a while.
Rather like a free bowl of soup you get at a church meeting, it is an enjoyable enough morsel to warrant sitting through a fire and brimstone sermon, with great actors and decent direction, but bear in mind it won't be a conventional romantic comedy!