Over-hyped, manipulative and predictable

Rating: Null/10 (30 December 2009)

So glad the producer (Ivan Reitman) has such faith in the director (his own son, Jason) and his "creative vision." What were the odds? LOL. Whatever skills Jason has as a technician, the philosophical thrust of this movie is as phony as a $3 bill. Wow, disconnectedness? Wow, everybody needs somebody to love? Wow, having casual sex is ultimately disappointing? This is glib commercialism at Hollywood's typical worst, disguised as a movie with meaning and now being hyped as Oscar material on all fronts. The audience for this flick would presumably be comfy white folks earning six-figure salaries, who can relate to all the emptiness that its lead character is striving to overcome. So who do we pity more--the director who thinks this message needs transmitting, or the dumb saps who will watch it and think it's really meaningful? (The latter, actually, because the director's getting rich off the movie, and the saps are giving him their money.) A manipulative piece of nonsense, which, at its core, is as naive as they come about real human issues. If you've paid to see this one, you've already been duped.