(WARNING - CONTAINS MILD SPOILER) Drama of a pretty well-balanced young gay guy and his tolerant, amiable father doesn't exactly have much dramatic tension - the characterizations aren't distinctive enough to be interesting; the movie doesn't aim for documentary insight, being blandly shot in TV-drama manner; and since very little happens plot-wise, major questions arise as to the point of the whole thing (other than a touchy-feely gay-positiveness; a nice enough quality, but not much of a return for sitting through a movie). Crowe's big romantic pick-up in the first half founders on the claustrophobia of his overly cosy domestic arrangement - a plot point engineered only by pushing Thompson's well-meaning intrusiveness beyond all reasonable limits; but this is as nothing compared to the contrivance of having Thompson suffer a debilitating stroke just as his girlfriend walks out on him. Many if not most scenes are distinctly ham-fisted, but for annoyance nothing beats the occasional direct addressing of the audience - a smug device that adds no insight here and merely breaks up any shred of reality. All in all, a bland and not particularly intelligent movie.
Review of The Sum of Us
