5.4 stars.
I feel like I missed out on the cool-aid everyone else is drinking. I am mortified as I gaze upon a landscape filled with disproportionately high ratings for a film that could not hold my attention for more than 20 minutes at a time.
*Edit* Here is where I edit this review. I now realize this is geared for women, and the focus is on the female audience. Duh. Why did I not see that before? This is a female oriented film, the men are hunks, and pleasing for female viewers. Most of the appeal is lost on me, and now I know why.
Am I supposed to conform to some politically correct directive that I'm not aware of? Is there a secret code or set of rules that dictates it is a requirement to sing praises to this movie?
I shake my head, force myself out of a surreal moment and think to myself, maybe I'm having an off day, I suppose if I were to rate this movie based on all factors other than those that attract me to a movie, it would be a 10 out of 10. Ok, so this is one of those film festival sort of rituals, we are only rating this based on a specific set of standards and criteria known to the Hollywood critics and such. Ok, I stumbled onto the wrong page, I can proceed to refresh and try again...
Back to reality, nope, I'm not dreaming. Ok, I'll do my best. What's not to like about a movie about three men and a baby? First of all, there's no plot. It's actually like real life. But generally speaking, ordinary life is boring to watch. You need action, tension. Romance, good vs evil, right vs wrong, romance. This has none of that. This is about 3 brothers babysitting an infant until the infant's mother claims said infant and everyone can go on their merry way.
What else is lacking? Entertainment value. I was not entertained by this in the least. Over the holidays I'm in the mood to watch a feel good holiday story, maybe with a bit of cheer. This film brings no cheer.
There are some really fantastic scenes. Cinematography is stellar, editing, acting, pacing - good. There is some hilarious dialogue intermittently woven into the generally cynical atmosphere of three juvenile men from an obviously dysfunctional family. But there is no heart, no soul, no joy. Ummm, 10 stars?
Nope. OR, just maybe I am just flat wrong about this one. It's possible.