Review: THANKS FOR SHARING

It's a bit odd for a movie with two established Hollywood stars to have such a small marketing campaign before being released in theaters. Such is the case for 'THANKS FOR SHARING'.

By Staff

The story tells us about 'Adam', played by Mark Ruffalo, a sex addict going on five years "sober" from his disease. He is part of a help group. 'Neil', also a sex addict, asks him to be his sponsor and after he fails in several occasions, he realizes that his life is in danger and decides to start over and do it right this time.

Adam's life gets complicated when 'Phoebe', played by Gwyneth Paltrow, a gorgeous woman with a great sense of humor shows serious interest in him.

Meanwhile 'Mike', Adam's sponsor and a former sex and alcohol addict, played by Tim Robbins', gets a surprise visit from his son 'Danny', a drug addict that has caused his parents more than just a headache in the past, but this time he swears he has changed his life for the better and has been drug-free for some time now.

In other words, the story is split three-ways and in each one, chaos is upon them.

Analysis and opinion:

Straight to the point: Three stories that deal with addictions, supposedly, from different angles. Truth is only two of them achieve an interesting drama level. Adam's, assuming that his is the main story by looking at the movie posters, is the one less intense. On the other hand, Neil's is the one with better quality, narrative and with an interesting character arc.

Stuart Blumberg's direction doesn't let the film develop in a better way; we think it has to do with his inability to handle three stories at once. He never sets a pattern for any of them or their characters.

Josh Gad as 'Neil' and, with a much smaller roll, Patrick Fugit as 'Danny' deliver the best performances. Also worth mentioning is Ruffalo's lack of interest in playing his character; he was flat and seemed to be just mailing-it-in.

There is no point in extending this review any further. We've seen other films that deal with sex addiction that were much better. A single example is Steve McQueen's brilliant 'SHAME' with Michael Fassbender as the protagonist.