Much more than just another movie

Rating: Null/10 (2 January 2014)

For whatever reason, this is not finding its groove this holiday season. I just got back from a paid preview showing, and have to confess that I liked it - a lot. Stiller puts in some of the best work he's done (in the commercial milieu - his Indies are my favorites,and are far better than most/all of his commercial vehicles) in a long while (Tropic thunder), both behind, and in front of the camera, and is ably supported by Kristen Wiig and Patton Oswalt.
There are weak links in the movie - Adam Scott being one of them, for no fault of his (capable of much, much better work) and the other being (parts of) the narrative itself. At times, I was not sure of the time this was set in (not the time as in the present or the past, but in terms of the movie's primary motif - not giving anything away yet....), and I was not sure if this was a slip on the part of the filmmakers, or if it was intended/on-purpose.
The soundtrack's one of the best I've experienced, in spite of the projectionist not giving us enough time to savor the portion after the end-titles and rudely cutting us off.
Stiller tries to make this much more than just the short story this one's based o; for example, he makes statements on film-vs-digital (and shoots using film stock) and also tries to capture the profundity in observing the capture of a single moment vs living in it. However, it doesn't come together very evenly, and perhaps that's what's causing all the negativity. In my perception though, that's a very good thing to have in a purportedly commercial flick, since it hits close to home on how uneven actual life on Earth is.
Seriously worth a watch on the big screen (another middle finger to those pesky pirates if the movie's playing close by), though it won't make my year's top list.