Were Joaquin, Mark, and Jennifer all amazing in their roles? YES. Was the subject matter unbelievably depressing? YES.
I guess I should have expected that, given the plot circumstances Mark Ruffalo's character kills Joaquin & Jennifer's son in a hit & run. It's obviously going to be a bit dark. I could have done with a touch of hope sprinkled somewhere in there. Every scene with Jennifer as the grieving mom is filled with so much pain that it's almost unwatchable. I think because the entire movie stays at a sad, low level that it can cause the audience to turn off their own feelings and stop feeling for the characters because there aren't the ups and downs. There isn't a breather or anything lighter in quality before the story plunges into darkness again. It's all dark, so the darkest moments lose their intensity because there is no juxtaposition of emotions.
The best scenes were the ones between Joaquin and Mark, as Joaquin has no clue that Mark was the driver and Mark knows very well that Joaquin is the father. There's immense tension when these two people have to interact. Mark's character shows the audience the extreme pain of being on that side of the accident.
I guess I should have expected that, given the plot circumstances Mark Ruffalo's character kills Joaquin & Jennifer's son in a hit & run. It's obviously going to be a bit dark. I could have done with a touch of hope sprinkled somewhere in there. Every scene with Jennifer as the grieving mom is filled with so much pain that it's almost unwatchable. I think because the entire movie stays at a sad, low level that it can cause the audience to turn off their own feelings and stop feeling for the characters because there aren't the ups and downs. There isn't a breather or anything lighter in quality before the story plunges into darkness again. It's all dark, so the darkest moments lose their intensity because there is no juxtaposition of emotions.
The best scenes were the ones between Joaquin and Mark, as Joaquin has no clue that Mark was the driver and Mark knows very well that Joaquin is the father. There's immense tension when these two people have to interact. Mark's character shows the audience the extreme pain of being on that side of the accident.