It was obvious what this movie was trying to achieve but in my eyes it failed miserably.

Yet again, here we have another one of those movies that features multiple different story lines, involving different characters, that are all intertwined. The story lines keep coming together, as the movie continues to tell the same story, seen from multiple different perspectives. It shows how certain choices could affect another person and an outcome of a situation. The so called ripple effect. That's all fine and good but the problem with each and every storyline in this movie is that they are all far from interesting or fun to watch.

It's all due to a combination of things. One are its characters. Absolutely none of them get properly developed, so why should you care about anyone in this movie? Another problem with the movie is that it's being a comedy, more than anything else really. Problem with that is that the movie just never is a funny- or very fun one to watch. All of the situations are highly improbable and at times it feels like the stories are going nowhere and just aren't moving forward anymore after a while. Besides, the way some of the stories are connected at times is all far from solid. The story approach doesn't really work out too well in this case. The movie is besides lacking a good clear point to its story. I just don't know what was supposed to be the moral of this movie and what I was supposed to take out of it

It makes this not only a very lacking movie but also a quite annoying one at times. Especially since it really seems to think that it's being a very clever and funny movie. Well, first of all, the concept and the approach of it all isn't all that terribly original and innovative anymore but secondly- and what's worse about it, is that the execution of it all is a far from effective one.

Because the storytelling is non-linear as well, it often jumps back and forth in time. This actually causes the movie to slow down and drag a bit, also since you already know everything that's eventually going to happen of course. It just doesn't change or adds all that much that the story gets told from different perspectives, since the movie never manages to becomes truly interesting with its story or engaging with any of its characters.

No, it doesn't matter that the likes of Christopher Walken are in this movie as well. I don't even understand why he said yes to this movie. Guess it was just a fast and simple paycheck for him or maybe he is friends with someone that was involved with this movie. Anyway, it's not like he is the main character of this movie, though of course he still gets advertised as such.

A poor genre effort.

4/10

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This is a rather amusing and sweet little movie, that manages to handle its not so much talked about subject in a respectful but yet at the same time entertaining way.

And that probably is the foremost reason why the movie works out; It manages to be an entertaining one all throughout, without ever ridiculing its subject, or falling for any sentimental trappings. It would had been so easy for the movie to turn it either into a completely ridicules comedy, or into a very sentimental and heavy movie to watch. I do believe it finds a right balance somewhere in the middle but at the same time I also still do wish they would had done more with all of it.

You feel that a different director and writer, with some experience in the genre, could had explored some more interesting grounds. I feel that this particular movie too often remains on the surface and safe side of things. At times it teases that it will be turning into something more profound and thought provoking even but it just never quite pushes through. It for instance hardly ever touches upon the sex versus religion aspect, even though the movie often appears to be heading that way with its story. What else could have been the point of the priest character, played by William H. Macy and his wavy hair? It just never goes that way and whenever something starts to develop into more serious and dramatic, it almost immediately drops its subject. I know this wasn't the type of approach the movie was going for but some more drama and emotional involvement wouldn't have harmed the movie.

Of course it's still more than just a simple sex movie though. On first sight, that's all the movie its story concerns but as the movie progresses it becomes obvious to you that there is far more behind it. It's simply just a way for the main character, who spends most of his life in an iron lung, to connect with women on more than just a psychological level and to grow further as a man, despite of his condition. In that regard you also get and grow a better understanding of what a sex therapist does and can mean to a severely handicapped person and how these 'sessions' could help this person to grow and progress as a human being.

The movie also definitely gets made interesting and entertaining thanks to its performances. Even though the main character in this can basically only move his head, he still comes across as a very lively and colorful person, who mostly for most part carries the movie. So big kudos to John Hawkes for that, even though Helen Hunt is still getting most praise and attention, mainly because her role is arguable an even tougher one. She has to get naked and I mean really naked, a lot and play a character that's somewhat hard to understand and get into at first, for its crowd. But she manages to charm you over and at the same time you also helps you to grow a better understanding of her, mainly because Hunt manages to put a very human face on her character. In some ways her 'journey' and story is just as interesting as Hawkes' character.

The movie as it is, is a perfectly cute and entertaining one! No need to make this movie bigger than it is though. It's nothing too provoking or groundbreaking, despite of its unique and maybe even somewhat controversial main subject. But that's of course still not taking away anything from its quality though.

7/10

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