User Reviews

The elephant in the room is the ending. For me, this was a well-acted and well written film. It could be a play. The movie is a series of one-on-one scenes between the main characters. Breckin Meyer went through life without feeling or noticing his surroundings. He was traumatized as a child by a mentally ill mother who tried to kill him several times. When Emily Kinney takes him home, it was poignant to realize that Breckin's character never noticed she lived right down the hall.

I loved the scenes between Breckin and young Jules played by Giselle Eisenberg. Jules has recurring nightmares about possibly being shot at school by an active shooter. She obsesses on cable news and knows all of the statistics of past shootings. Casey was helping Jules makes some progress. I loved their scenes together. That's what made the ending so difficult for me. Suicide is something I've lived through in my own family. Perhaps the ending is realistic that once someone tries suicide, it's very likely they will try again and succeed. It's hard to take that no matter what you do, the person can try again and succeed. Even though you try to understand their pain (or lack of pain or feeling of any kind in Casey's case), in the end suicide is a selfish act leaving the family to grieve and live with the consequences.

Perhaps Casey thought leaving Jess and Jules with an easier life was a decent gesture. Did he ever think how his suicide would further traumatize young Jules? How selfish could he be? Couldn't he see she was finally making some progress in her life with his help? My siblings became very angry at my dad for what he did. I just feel for Jules in this movie. The carousel in the back yard will just be a constant reminder of the suicide. I was hoping Casey would make a little progress to at least give his life a chance for the sake of Jules and Jess. Unfortunately, it may be realistic, since those who try suicide usually try again. But it was an awful ending for Jules. My heart broke for her. As she said, she liked him. She was finally making some progress to enjoy life as a happier kid. Then the ending happens to her. She already was living with PTSD symptoms, and then Casey throws a new trauma at her. This was not a comedy. I saw it listed as a comedy on IMDB. There was nothing funny about what happened. They tried to wrap up the ending as something uplifting, but the elephant in the room died and left a huge mess to clean up.

I am still giving the movie a 5 because I loved the one-on-one scenes between the actors. Up until the last 15 minutes, I would have given the film an 8, 9, or even 10. But the ending brought back my own trauma and just made me sad for young Jules and her mom Jess.