Anesthesia (2016)

"Anesthesia" (2015 release; 90 min.) brings a sprawling story involving a seemingly unconnected group of people in New York. As the movie opens, we see an older guy walking home, buying flowers for someone (his wife we presume), and then just as he gets to his building, something terrible happens, as he is being buzzed in by a neighbor. The movie then goes back in time, and we get to know a slew of people, and how eventually it becomes clear that all of their lives are interconnected, directly or indirectly. At this point we're not event 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: this movie is nothing short of being a labor of love from Tim Blake Nelson, who wrote, directed, co-produced and for good measure also stars as one of the characters in the large ensemble (playing the son of the older guy). Here Nelson (best known for his acting work) brings us a complicated character study of mostly flawed characters who are dealing with demons of various kinds. Because of the strong story-telling and plot-driven context, it would be inappropriate for me to say much more than that. The movie features a number of noteworthy performances, none more so than Sam "Law & Order" Waterston as the philosophy professor who is pondering his options as his long and distinguished academic career is winding down. What an acting talent this is, a crisp mid-70 years young when this was filmed. Kristen Stewart (as the troubled philosophy masters student) is 180 degrees away from her "Twilight" franchise role, and makes the most of her brief screen time in this. Canadian composer Jeff Danna provides a lovely orchestra score.This movie was filmed in 2013, and premiered to positive acclaim at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, but it sank like a stone upon its brief theatrical release in early 2016 (it never even made it to my art-house theater here in Cincinnati). A darn shame. But the movie seems to have found a second wind with the subsequent VOD, TV and DVD releases. I happen to catch it on SHO the other night, and I absolutely loved this movie. No, this isn't a 'jolly good time' as the movie is serious and complicated, but I loved spending time with these characters and wasn't ready to say goodbye when the movie's end credits started rolling. "Anesthesia" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Seemed like an alright flick based on the trailer and the cast but it was a very forgettable experience.Takes itself way too seriously, overpretentious and oversentimental yet lacking interesting plot-developments and characters to truly care for. With some deeply contrived dialogue that just does not feel natural half the time, for instance why is Kristen Stewart who's supposed to be a emo teenager speaking like she's reciting for Hamlet or something?Now don't get me wrong I actually like K Stew a lot generally but her character in this I don't think anyone could make seem believable.Luckily (in a way I suppose) her character only shows up from time to time but then it's a ensemble movie and unfortunately the other characters aren't that much better and not much plot to speak of.It's not bad to the point that I want to bash my head into a wall or anything but in the end it mostly felt like a wasted time watching it.

Multiple lives intersect in the aftermath of the violent mugging of a Columbia University philosophy professor. Tim Blake Nelson's directional debut doesn't disappoint as you might think although some characters needed to be explored more for example Kristen Stewart's character Sophie was very interesting with a dark path never explored but there's also characters that get a lot of screen time that they were kinda uninteresting for example Corey Stoll and Gretchen Mol a man who is cheating on his wife and the other one is just having drinking problems. There were much more interesting things in this film for example we have a man who is addicted on drugs also why not explore Walter's backstory with his wife and his son? Great movie and very good characters but they needed to explore more about it instead of showing us the same things we've seen before.

"You can't see you're in charge of yourself." The lives of many people and families all intersect after the attack on popular professor Walter Zarrow (Waterston). A husband and wife in marriage trouble, a wife with health issues, a young woman with mental problems and two old friends on opposite ends of the law all have an impact on each other without realizing it. I really enjoy movies like this. Movies where seemingly individual stories all converge at the end. Movies like Crash, 11:14 and recently She's Funny That Way have all used this mechanic with success. This one adds to that. The movie starts off a little slow but really grows on you and by the end you really don't want it to end. The only downside is the movie is a little too predictable, but it does have enough curves to keep you surprised though. The acting is very good in this and this is a sleeper movie that should be seen by more people than it will. Overall, a movie to watch for the acting and the story, not for everyone but those that like it will really like it. I did. I give this a B+.