clever, manipulative, formulaic

Rating: 5/10 (20 May 2013)

The characters in this film barely had time to develop before the plot ruthlessly buried them in an avalanche of predictability. I was suspicious because of the title and in fact, its clever summation perfectly described what was to come: how football and dancing and romance and family are what life is all about. Blech. This was a romantic comedy with mental illness but both the leads were gorgeous and full of hidden talents.
I saw this at the cheap theater and my friend and I discussed leaving three quarters of the way through, but we decided to stay because we were minimally curious about how it would turn out. The story was good but maddeningly predictable, and clearly careering towards huge amounts of syrupy happiness...but they kept taking pointless twists and turns to get there. The acting was fantastic: the lead played a bipolar man exceptionally well, especially considering his good looks - he was able to come across as sweet, troubled, infuriating and vulnerable. The female lead also gave a spectacular performance but again, she was supposed to be mentally ill and yet was composed, poised and displayed great insight in several scenes - effectively undermining the character's integrity and credibility. The dad (another great piece of acting by Robert DeNiro) seemed to vacillate between unrealistic/angry & wise and supportive....but of course despite all their considerable problems, everything works out wonderfully in the end and there is a big cast of kooky but lovable friends and family who show up in the final scenes. This movie worked hard to be something special but it's formulaic underbelly kept interrupting the flow and believability of the characters' actions (and therefore the story itself). I do wonder about the book, however, because the character development had a few flashes of brilliance (although this may have had less to do with the writing and more to do with the fine acting). I got the impression the movie left a lot out...there were a couple of minor characters who showed up but then were forgotten. Maybe it was bad editing but it smelled a lot like some Hollywood committee hijacked the writing or directing. Either way, someone sold out.