Thanks for Sharing

Thanks for Sharing (2012)
Directed by Stuart Blumberg.

Part three of me trying to get caught up on reviews. This was a more spur of the moment viewing with the War Department, and I was mainly interested in the film because of Mark Ruffalo and Gwyneth Paltrow's involvement. They were pretty great. The rest of the film...well not so much.

I'm still not sure whether I liked the structure of the film. On paper it sounds good to focus on three couples connected by an addict support group.   However, in execution the number of loosely related story lines became distracting from the real heart of the story.

I think the story would have worked better, not to mention have a more emotional impact, if it had focused more on Ruffalo and Paltrow's characters and their relationship struggles. The other characters would still be important and have their place in the story, but the film would have been more cohesive if they were there to service the main story line rather than detract from it.

Obviously the filmmakers were trying to make as realistic of a film as possible. I think they did a good job for the most part. They captured the gritty, uncomfortable, sometimes painful, yet also beautiful reality of life, and they did it three times in somewhat intertwined story lines. But they overlooked that a film usually functions best with one main story line. The structure of this film works in real life. It even works in novels. But it falls apart on film.

One third of this film was very good and made me care about the characters. I wish the whole film had accomplished that.

2.5 out of 5 stars.
Viewed September 27, 2013 at LOOK Cinemas Prestonwood in Dallas, TX.