Thanks for Sharing

Film (2012)

With Mark Ruffalo (Adam), Tim Robbins (Mike), Gwyneth Paltrow (Phoebe), Josh Gad (Neil), Joely Richardson (Katie), Patrick Fugit (Danny), Pink (Alecia Moore), Carol Kane (Roberta), Emily Meade (Becky), Isiah Whitlock Jr. (Charles), Michaela Watkins (Margo)

Adam (Mark Ruffalo) is a wonderful, middle-aged, man, desirable in almost every respect, except he has been a sexual addict. He has successfully addressed his condition, as much as one can, with the careful guidance of Mike (Tim Robbins). He has steered clear of actual romance for a long time, but Phoebe (Gwyneth Paltrow) comes along and bazaam.

The romance is endearing, and steamy, and one hopes that they can make it. Meanwhile, Mike has his own issues with a son who shows all the obvious signs of substance abuse. There is, as well, an ongoing portrait of Neil (Josh Gad) a doctor who is not immune from related ailments, and Pink (Alecia Moore) who is challenged by her own demons but lends durable support to Neil.

I am not the biggest fan of the psycho-romantic-comedy, revered so ardently by many last year when Silver Linings Playbook came out. That emblem of the genre, mixing the heaviness of psychological bipolarity with the lightness of unpredictable romance and farcical embellishment, seemed to strike a chord with a population of people who want desperately to find some kind of mythic amorous salve to apply to tragic psychological distress.

Thanks for Sharing also hovers on the border between desperate illness and contagious charm, but it took me in more than Silver Linings Playbook did. It does not have a farcical dimensional in the way that Silver Linings does and, though humorous, does not derail its serious subject with histrionics.

The contagiously laid-back Mark Ruffalo, in the leading role, grooves his way through the presumed demons, though it is difficult to imagine how they ever got through the border of his impenetrable charm to begin with. So relaxed and appealing, he is a bit unbelievable is the role of a sexual obsessive, but I suppose that is one of the main points of the film.

He plays opposite Gwyneth Paltrow, whose ardent focus and lithe energy work to smoke Ruffalo out of cool-land, like picante salsa on iceberg lettuce, and it works pretty well here.

Mike (Tim Robbins), Adam’s mentor in the twelve step program, has an easy rapport with him, so much so, that in a scene with Mike’s son, Danny (Patrick Fugit), the jive talk between Mike and Adam becomes uncomfortably familiar and threatening to the father-son relationship.

Robbins has a glistening determination in his eyes that mixes with an amused wrinkle of the lips to produce a combination of cold steel and cold beer, resolute and ironic all in one. He is perfect for this role as one who seems so well in charge of himself but who, in the final analysis, has much for which to answer.

There is a bit too much going on between this whole set of engagements and the added subplot of Neil and Pink. Indeed, Alecia Moore is striking in an offbeat way and Josh Gad is an effective schlub, but it is too much already. Though this subplot drives home the matter of recovery from yet another perspective, it feels like a distraction rather than an enhancement.

There are a lot of dorky moments, with montages thrown in odd places and gooey music filling up unexpected gaps, but, in the end, it does not matter that much. This is not a monumental film, but it is, oddly, an enjoyable one, and its narrative, in the end, does not sentimentalize.

Insurance against sentimentality is exactly what psychodrama can provide for romantic comedy. Added artfully, it can do so; added incautiously it makes a mess of expectation and tone. Given the challenges of mixing the two genres, Thanks For Sharing does a decent job of keeping its tone intact and navigating reasonably between its two poles.

– BADMan