Ogosmith
Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
Teddie Blake
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Payno
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
sydneybrownhamilton
This is such a funny and charming movie about families and how we all become just like our parents - I had no idea Jimmy Fallon was such a good actor. Sharon Stone is also great and shows that she can really act, which is sometimes lost in the big movies she does. I also love Ileanna Douglas in everything and this is no exception. Like Jimmy Fallon, Tom Arnold also plays a serious role and is able to hold his own with Sharon Stone. The Year of Getting to Know Us reminded me of Garden State but is a little more weird - in a good way. I'm not sure when this movie is going to be released in the UK, but I hope it's soon. It deserves to be seen.
linkmagnum
I saw this movie at Sundance and thought it was totally compelling (particularly Sharon Stone as the unhinged mom) and found many scenes profoundly reminded me of my own dysfunctional family. I caught myself laughing out loud a number of times, especially at Tony Hale - you know, buster from Arrested Development. I did find, however, the film seemed a little long and somehow unfinished - like a couple of other movies I saw at the festival which, I assume, is quite common. Imagine my surprise, when I recently heard from a friend that the movie had been shortened by the director and he was having a small screening of the new version. Wow - I thought this movie was good the first time I saw it, so I couldn't believe how much better it was the second time. Jimmy Fallon and Lucy Liu are fantastic together and the whole movie is smart, funny, moving and totally satisfying. I hope I can see it for a third time in theaters. You should see it too! LM
camillemurray82
I saw this at Sundance earlier in the year. I didn't know anything about it going into the festival and it blew me away. Sharon Stone was terrific. I'm not a huge fan of hers, but the scenes of her and her son when he was a boy were terrific. Tom Arnold was also great as her car sales/womanizing husband. Jimmy Fallon was oddly serious throughout the film. I was hoping he'd crack a jock every once in a while, but he was supposed to play is straight and he was good. Lucy Liu was also good as his girlfriend. The movie was a thoughtful/funny meditation on the father/son/family dynamic...of loss, love and regrets. Surprisingly good film.
yamcofarms
I saw the world premiere of this film at Sundance and it is seriously one of the five worst films I have seen in my lifetime. During the Q&A (in which the director and entire cast were present), no one in the audience had anything worth saying because the film was so awful. It was a pretty awkward moment.Considering all of the 10s this film has received, it seems to me that people connected with the film are clearly the ones giving it a rating without considering the quality of the final product. If you honestly think this is a good film, you have no taste when it comes to film-making.Jimmy Fallon is painfully one dimensional. Lucy Liu is good, but her role has no meat-- it's sad that these are the only parts she is given. Tom Arnold is not an actor and never has been. Sharon Stone is caricaturish. Illeana Douglas and Tony Hale give the best performances, but in minor roles. What most people don't know about this film is that the director cuts back and forth between the present and the past at least twenty times-- an overused technique that not even the most mundane film students resort to these days. This forces Arnold and Stone, who play Fallon's parents, to carry a major portion of the film in the flashbacks.There is rarely a truthful moment in the film. The script is contrived. The cliché ending can be seen in any below-average Hollywood romantic comedy. I hope this director grows in maturity before he writes or directs another film. He had the budget and resources at his fingertips, but blew his opportunity because he wasn't properly equipped.Which Sundance programmer allowed this film to be shown? They should be ashamed of themselves. The work speaks for itself and it clearly falls short. I'd hate to think that the programmer was being wooed by the producer's rep or other people behind the film without considering the ramifications of screening something of this quality at Sundance. Is this what Redford's vision has come to?
