Film Reviews

Gigantic

• Rating:
• Director: Matt Aselton.
• Starring: Paul Dano, Zooey Deschanel, John Goodman, Edward Asner.
• Details: US / 98mins (15A).

Gigantic tries hard to be this year's indie smash: it's slightly quirky, slightly cute, slightly romantic and filled with characters that are slightly eccentric. It would have been a far better film if it stopped being slightly everything and concentrated on being just one thing. Its grand plan, its message, is smothered in writer-director Aselton's determination to be offbeat and whimsical. The youngest son of a successful family, Brian (Dano) has had an odd dream since he was a little kid: he wants to adopt a Chinese baby. When the kooky Happy Lolly (Deschanel) wanders into his mattress shop to buy a bed for her boorish father Al (Goodman's art collector) and promptly falls asleep, Brian just as promptly falls in love with her. The two 'kind of' strike up a relationship and 'sort of' date but Holly's free spirit clashes with Brian's desire for security. At its core, Gigantic is a low-key romantic drama but debutant Matt Aselton fleshes the plot out with magic realism and some unneeded sequences (the massage parlour, the trip to the woods, the dinner with the chef) in the hope it will stand out from the crowd. The end result is a lean film that wears a fat suit. The magic realism comes in the form of Zach Galifiniakis's (The Hangover) homeless stalker who follows Brian with homicidal intent. Aselton plays around with the idea that Galifiniakis isn't real, that it's all in Brian's head, that it's a metaphor. We never find out why this subplot is here and we don't find out why Brian, a 29-year-old singleton from a well-to-do background, would want to adopt a baby either. Pop psychology would suggest that the fact that Brian feels aloof from his family (his parents (Jane Alexander and Lou Grant's Edward Asner) are that much older than him they're almost his grandparents, and his two older brothers are successful businessmen in their own right) he wants a family he can call his own. Not that the viewer needs everything spelt out, but a hint every now and then never goes astray. But there is an undeniable charm, and most of that comes from the minimalist Dano and the kooky Deschanel, who do their best to anchor the plot despite Aselton's flights of fancy. Goodman and Asner weigh in with funny moments too: Asner likes to eat magic mushrooms and go for a walk in the woods; Goodman is liable to say anything and the most inappropriate time.

Review by Gavin Burke