Review: Men, Women & Children

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Technology ruins everything...or maybe it just enhances it?

Jason Reitman is one of my favorite directors, but recently he's been lacking. Young Adult and Labor Day were both pretty lackluster. Men, Women, & Children is a step back into the right direction, but it makes me wonder if Reitman actually saw Disconnect? Because his movie feels incredibly similar.

Interwoven stories about people and how the internet effects their lives make up this film. There's Don and Helsen (Adam Sandler and Rosemarie DeWitt) who's unhappy marriage leads them to seek out other comfort online, while their teenage son Chris' (Travis Trope) online porn preferences are ensuring his relationship with Hannah (Olivia Crocicchia) will never be normal. Hannah is very overt with her sexuality and her mother (Judy Greer) even helps her take seductive pictures for her website in hopes of landing an acting/modeling career. There's Patricia (Jennifer Garner) playing the ultimate helicopter parents and monitoring everything her daughter, Brandy (Kaitlyn Denver) does online. Brandy also strikes up a new friendship with Tim, (Ansel Elgort) who in the wake of his mother's abandonment quits football and turns to online role playing games. There's a few other stories linked in there, but that covers most of the basics.

I said at the beginning this was very similar to Disconnect, another muti story film about how the internet effects people, and while I hate to compare them, that film just all around did it better. MW&C drags a bit under the tremendous weight of all these stories. Some of the conclusions barely seem satisfying. That's not to say the movie is bad, I actually enjoyed it, cliches and all and would recommend it, but it's hard NOT to compare the two. 

Garner, Denver, and Dean Norris were the standouts for me. This brings me to Adam Sandler, he was decent here. It just pisses me off even more that he makes such shit movies when he's actually capable of putting on a good performance. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B-

Memorable Quote: "That is why I put a computer chip in my daughter's brain, with a 7 digit pin code to her vagina." - Donna (Judy Greer)

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 21, 2014 at 4:21 PM

    This sounds like something I might like, especially since I haven't seen Disconnect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamOctober 22, 2014 at 8:07 AM

      I'd definitely recommend watching both, maybe this one first since Disconnect is ultimately better.

      Delete
  2. Candice FrederickOctober 21, 2014 at 6:03 PM

    Ugh how disappointing. I actually really liked Young Adult, but Labor Day was awful. When Reitman is good, he's great. When he's bad...look out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Candice FrederickOctober 21, 2014 at 6:04 PM

    oh, and I liked Disconnect (for the most part) too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousOctober 22, 2014 at 4:56 PM

    "Young Adult and Labor Day were both pretty lackluster." GURL, NO. Somewhere Margaret is reading this and screaming. She and I both loved Young Adult.

    But, damn. I'm disappointed that this didn't warrant a higher rating...I wanted to see it, but now I might just skip it :(

    ReplyDelete
  5. JoshDecember 2, 2014 at 2:08 PM

    I haven't seen this or Disconnect yet, but I'm hoping Reitman rebounds soon. Sandler can be great in the right role, so I'm hoping he continues to work some small films into his schedule.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 3, 2014 at 7:20 AM

      I definitely prefer Sandler in dramas nowadays. I hope Reitman bounces back too, because I love his earlier films. The last two have been really underwhelming for me.

      Delete

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