Written and directed by Geoff Moore and David Posamentier
Starring Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde, Michelle Monaghan
Age difference between the romantic leads: 7 years between Rockwell and Wilde (just on the cusp of acceptable) but 15 years between Rockwell and Wilde (absolutely unacceptable).
Sam Rockwell is one of those rare actors that can turn a film around all on his lonesome. Whether starring, featured, or even part of an ensemble, there's something about his energy and charisma that just makes any film he's in slightly better. So any time he's front and centre, I want to see that film. This film is no different.
It is a film that revels in his watchability, giving him the same arc (but through slightly different means) of Lester Burnham in American Beauty, and in doing so providing a real opportunity for a great performance. It's an opportunity he takes. Whether as a meek, trodden-upon nobody, a confident, kinda-dicky rebel, or a hungover and repentant junkie, he's a joy to watch throughout.
In fact, there's not really a bad performance in the whole film. Olivia Wilde is initially a typical trophy wife, but develops well to show hidden depths, Ray Liotta gives a nice twist in his small role, and Michelle Monaghan, someone I knew previously as the Love Interest from Source Code and Mission Impossible, proves herself to be a revelation, demolishing her role as a controlling, determined cyclist who is such a dick you're fine that she gets dumped on for much of the film. Plus it's got Ben Schwartz, who doesn't have a lot to do but does it splendidly. Who doesn't love Ben Schwartz, huh? Send them to me and I'll fight them.
It's well written, with lovely sequences, great performances and keeps everything going logically for the most part (except how easy he finds it to bond with his kid again, and how badly Olivia Wilde's character gets treated). It won't blow you away, but it's a very decent film indeed, and I wholeheartedly recommend you watch it. It's always a shame that you have less to talk about with the films that are good. Spectacular films you can talk about, rubbish films you can talk about. Good films, they're just good. I give it...