Half and half (lots of sort-of spoilers, sorry)

Rating: Null/10 (4 December 2004)

Overall, this is a movie that people should see. However, there were some things about it that bothered me. The first, that some of the situations seemed contrived -- Andrew's last conversation with his father and the airport ending come to mind. The actors and the direction made both scenes the best that they could possibly be, but I still watched with the feeling that everything was being tied up too neatly -- that this character, who had spend over 15 years on medication would be so self-aware, so receptive toward (welcoming of) what he was beginning to feel, and most of all, so articulate in expressing those feelings. The ending just didn't match the flow of the film -- easy storytelling met with abrupt resolution.
Still, I think the movie was beautiful. The camera work wasn't the pretentious, confusing hand-held and grainy that we sometimes see in these coming of age (of age) stories -- I liked how it stuck to tradition in terms of framing, in terms of tracking. The editing was interesting without being schizophrenic. The scene with the "fast food knight" was hilarious -- additionally, the scene where Andrew and Sam first meet was very genuine. The dialogue was very smart, and not cheesy (for the most part -- but then, what movie is completely without cliché?).
I think that the acting was wonderful. The three, main people -- Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, and Peter Saarsgard -- were particularly cool to watch.