I see Namo's point, the resolution resorts to more than a whiff of contrivance. For me, it's one story that might've worked with less traditional plotting, and the final turns involving truth-speaking and calling out don't quite ring true. But it's a quibble, and on second viewing, the overall impact is too powerful. I did notice that Hader got a Gotham Indie Spirit nomination, competing with Keaton and Hawkes for Best Actor (the category rather better determined than at the Oscars, where "supporting" has no meaning anymore). So he wasn't forgotten.
The performance was so unfettered and spot-on honest. He never tried to get anyone, including us, to love him, not for a minute. And watching him turn back into a 15-year-old around Burrell (also effective) was scary, heartbreaking, almost revelatory. Hader's ability to stay so completely in the moment, down to the second, makes him impossible not to watch. Also good in the film, scoring points in a handful of minutes: Joanna Gleason as their tortured, self-contained mother. What might've been a caricature -- the born again New Ager -- was so deeply fear-driven, you could understand every (bad, fear-based) decision this woman had made.
The screenplay steadfastly refuses to turn Wilson into a heavy in the story, which again, second time viewing, seems incredibly fresh in 2015. It wasn't evil brother-in-law who just doesn't get the gay brother. It all stayed far subtler and more human. Maybe it's why the by-the-numbers plotting in that final reel was jarring.
The film was overlooked. It was on the WGA preliminary ballot, but obviously didn't get votes. No one saw it, and there were no screeners or downloaded screenplays. Without screeners (unless SAG folk got 'em; doubtful), you haven't a chance in hell anymore. A separate topic, but not. If the movie-going year is the third week of November until January 1st, when everyone in a union must sit at home and burn through a stack of DVDs, something is seriously wrong.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
Updated On: 3/8/15 at 08:29 AM
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