Phenomenal

Rating: 10/10 (10 February 2007)

I saw the poster for this film and read some really good reviews of it before it received its theatrical release, but never really looked twice at it. I'm not much of a comedy person, so this sort of missed my radar. Once the Rotten Tomatoes rating of 95% positive reviews (at the time) came in I decided to watch the trailer online, and fell in love with it immediately. It also had Steve Carell, one of my favourite comedians, in a starring role, so I knew I had to see it.
Seeing the film in theatres was an experience. Every joke was dead-on, and everyone in the theatre was roaring. When the credits rolled, the theatre applauded, something I had never seen happen before. I was applauding right along with them.
Every single performance in this film is incredible. Abigail Breslin has overtaken Dakota Fanning's position in my mind as the greatest child actor of our time. Not only is she a great child actress, she's a great actress. Period. Steve Carell hit emotional depths I didn't know he could. He's come a long way from The Daily Show. Paul Dano's performance makes you think initially that he's an unlikable moron, but the character ends up so well developed by the end.
The music was also very strong. As a musician, I often notice soundtracks and film scores where others ignore it. However, everyone else I saw this with noticed the score. It perfectly compliments and underlines the events of the film without overwhelming it.
Dark, cynical, hilarious, oddly uplifting, quirky yet accessible. I loved every second, and consider it to be one of my favourite films of all time. A+.