An average movie

Since I’m a huge fan of Sean Penn, of course, I was really eager to check this flick. On top of that, Sean Penn was nominated for the Academy awards for this performance and this movie had some really good ratings so I had some rather high expectations. Honestly, I was rather surprised about how underwhelming the whole thing was. I mean, it is not a bad movie at all, there is some great stuff but it is also deeply flawed and I’m amazed that those flaws didn’t bother more the other viewers who raved about this movie. Anyway, let’s start with the good stuff. Indeed, Sean Penn was great in this. Man, what a fine actor! He gave here one of the most believable performances of a mentally disabled man I have ever seen, it was really fascinating and quite heartbreaking to behold. I also liked the directing style with some interesting angles and some nice hand-held camera. Still, it didn’t really blow me away. I mean, come on, the story was really preposterous and completely manipulative. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I have an autistic son, maybe that’s why I reacted so passionately about the subject. I mean, if someone can barely take care of themselves, I’m sorry, they shouldn’t get custody of their own children, end of the story. I understand, it makes for a very emotional Hollywood tale but it doesn’t work like that, I'm afraid. To conclude, I don’t think it is that great at all but I still think it is worth a look, if only to see Sean Penn’s great performance.

6/10