Gigantic (2008)

Brian Weathersby (Paul Dano) sells insanely high price mattresses in NYC. It's an indie of his life with all kinds of random quirky characters. Happy Lolly (Zooey Deschanel) is the daughter of Al (John Goodman) who purchased a mattress for $14k. He wants to adopt a Chinese baby. She's flaky. They hit it off.This is filled with great actors I love. They seem to be doing good work. I should like this, but the story is a series of meandering scenes that drives aimlessly. They crawl along without any sense of drama. It's a battle of the quirky characters, and nobody really wins in this.

A stunning performance by Paul Dano and a very believable by Zooey Deschannel. Some might say bits of this film are mundane and were not needed, but that's what makes this film a sensation, to be able to relate to these so called scenes can in fact bring you deeper into the film.However, my only criticism would be the ending, I think it leaves us wondering about too many things.Overall, this is a great film which explores the life of a salesman with a very unique life, not seen very much in many films these days, who falls in love with a customer who leads a very strange life too. The violent attacks by an unknown figure played by Zach Galifianakis make the film more mysterious and makes the viewer curious to who this figure is.All in all a fine film.

This is one of those bizarre car wrecks of a movie. Its horrible, but you cant look away. The plot and dialog take a back seat to strange set pieces and weird (though strangely compelling) emotion and chemistry. Zooey Deschanel is fantastic, as always, and Paul Danno was surprisingly good (i think, i am not too sure, really...) but the script and the situations all seemed kind of forced and unnatural, which i kind of got the idea was at least partially the point. Its hard to describe. Though i would definitely recommend watching this film, it is not because its good(because its really not), and it is not because i even really liked it(because i really didn't), but simply because once watching it, for better or worse, i couldn't get it out of my head.

Supporting cast makes this film interesting. John Goodman, Ed Asner and (all to briefly) Jane Alexander. Just in case you've not read the other reviewers: Unconventional mattress salesman meets rich girl. Mattress salesman wants Chinese baby to fulfill his life. Rich girl wants ... ? These two characters fall into love as they attempt to understand it. The End. Again, John Goodman as the mafia-type father of Happy, played by Zooey Deschanel, adds luster and laughs. Asner is the 80-year old dad of mattress salesman Brian, played by Paul Dano. Unconventional character even more so then his son. Asner has fun with the role. Ms. Alexander is the only near-normal, mother-like character as Brian's mother. She seems to be the only character who understands what's happening. This is not some offbeat film. It has excellent production values, editing, music, photography, etc. Equally important, it keeps your attention on various levels. Sub-plots so-to-speak. But, no spoilers here. The story is offbeat. Furthermore, while Mr. Dano carries his "offbeat" role as the uncanny, maternal 20-something with sympathetic depth, Ms. Deschannel does not connect with her character at all. She certainly has promise and frankly I look forward to seeing her in other roles. Unfortunately, she is only "eye-candy" and to some extent reduces the entire production. The film is still worthwhile, but only a 4/10 for supporting cast and story.