More of A Drama and Less of A Comedy

Rating: 3/10 (8 April 2016)

This movie probably looked good on paper (i.e. the screen play) but it lost its way in production with the blame spread around between casting, direction, and perhaps also editing. Mostly, I think what was missing, was creative vision by the director.
Pros: Some tender moments. Several plot surprises. A few good laughs. Several commendable supporting role performances, most notably by: Ryan Gosling; Analeigh Tipton; and Jonah Bobo.
Cons: Most of the plot was boring, with the entire first half of the movie being painful to sit through. There were far too many contrived scenes, some of the more notably being parent teacher night, graduation, and the (cell) phone conversation about re-lighting the heater in the basement.
Mixed: Casting was all over the place, some excellent choices, some not so much.