Seen: June 15th, 2007
Format: Blu-Ray
Rating: 5
This is a very personal film. It's an autobiography of sorts. It tells the tale of a young man growing up in a very unorthodox fashion.
This doesn't necessarily mean it's good.
The problem here is that it's all a little too personal. There's an old saw about dirty laundry that seems to apply here. While Augusten's life is certainly colorful and full of fantastical people, there's something that rings hollow when it's converyed in this fashion.
We see his whole life here. There's pain, there's love, both appropriate and inappropriate, there's betrayal and confusion. There's surprises both pleasant and distressing. All of this is presented over the course of two hours.
I took Augusten years to experience all this, and many more to process it and ultimately convey it. How are we supposed to feel after having it all thrown at us over the course of two hours. Even if we mull it over, how long should we take to process it? A day? A week? A month? I'm not really interested in spending more than a few hours, probably while doing mundane tasks, mulling it over.
On top of this, since there's so much happening, we're continually pulled in different directions. We're laughing at something kooky one moment and appalled at some other behavior the next. It seems as if there's a race to fully engage all of our emotional responses at least once by the end of the film.
It's all a bit much, really. Processing it is quite a challenge, which doesn't really leave much time to enjoy it.
That said, there are some amazing performances here. Benning is simply stellar. I've never been a big fan, but her range is on full display here and it's much better and wider than I've previously given her credit for. Jill Clayburgh does an excellent, understated job.
Brian Cox is in full force. While his character isn't very complex, he does nail the performance. The rest turn in good, solid work. Wood's characterization is perhaps the most confusing to me. She's a little over-dramatic, and I'm feel that it's her performance and perhaps not the character that's being so flamboyant.
In all, I was a bit underwhelmed here. While there are some stunning moments here and some great performances, it all seemed a little tedious. Perhaps the book is the more appropriate medium.
The Good: Performances
The Bad: Everything else
The Ugly: Becoming a surrogate spouse
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