Jeff Daniels' again plays a famous writer who is struggling for inspiration(Richard), much like his praised performance in The Squid and The Whale. This time, his wife is Lisa Kudrow(Claire) along with an imaginary superhero friend in Ryan Reynolds, dubbed Captain Excellent. To overcome his writers block, the three move to a small country town. Soon Richard meets 17 year old Abby(Emma Stone) and their relationship slowly develops.
Unfortunately Daniels' performance doesn't live up to The Squid and The Whale, as his his hopeless and lonely persona seems over the top and caricature-ish. Reynolds is solid but you can't help but feel he is underused. If you have an imaginary superhero friend to an aging male, you need to at least develop it. Kudrow seems like an odd casting choice, but provides good comic relief. In fact, the cast as a whole is quite an odd arrangement. However, without a doubt, Emma Stone is the highlight here. She plays a extremely likable but damaged girl to fantastic effect and makes the best dramatic scenes of the film.
There are a lot of relationships that intertwine in this film, but it they never become difficult to follow or too underdeveloped. Kieran Culkin's(Christopher) obsessive relationship is a great example of this and Culkin puts in another good performance to show that the family does have some talent in it.
Finally, it looks great. The cinematography and direction is superb for a debut effort from Kieran Mulhoney and he is certainly one film-maker to look out for in the future.
Overall, there are some flaws in this movie, but its strengths make it a good watch for a film no doubt made on a small budget. It is definitely a drama but when comedy is introduced, it generally hits the mark.
Unfortunately Daniels' performance doesn't live up to The Squid and The Whale, as his his hopeless and lonely persona seems over the top and caricature-ish. Reynolds is solid but you can't help but feel he is underused. If you have an imaginary superhero friend to an aging male, you need to at least develop it. Kudrow seems like an odd casting choice, but provides good comic relief. In fact, the cast as a whole is quite an odd arrangement. However, without a doubt, Emma Stone is the highlight here. She plays a extremely likable but damaged girl to fantastic effect and makes the best dramatic scenes of the film.
There are a lot of relationships that intertwine in this film, but it they never become difficult to follow or too underdeveloped. Kieran Culkin's(Christopher) obsessive relationship is a great example of this and Culkin puts in another good performance to show that the family does have some talent in it.
Finally, it looks great. The cinematography and direction is superb for a debut effort from Kieran Mulhoney and he is certainly one film-maker to look out for in the future.
Overall, there are some flaws in this movie, but its strengths make it a good watch for a film no doubt made on a small budget. It is definitely a drama but when comedy is introduced, it generally hits the mark.