A.C.O.D. (2013)
A grown man is still caught in the crossfire of his parents' 15 year divorce. He discovers he was unknowingly part of a study on divorced children and is enlisted in a follow-up years later, which wreaks new havoc on his family.
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Wow! Such a good movie.
Waste of time
Sorry, this movie sucks
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
This movie is held together by a typically intelligent, sympathetic performance from Adam Scott, with fine support from Mary Elizabeth Winstead. I believed in and cared about them as the central couple, with Scott struggling to deal with the chaos created by others and Winstead the voice of reason in his life. Other performances capture the selfishness of a dysfunctional family nicely, and I quickly found myself rooting for Scott and feeling the pain when his life is derailed. This movie doesn't patronise the audience with clichéd resolutions, it's funny enough to keep us amused and thanks to Scott and Winstead it never slips into pointless farce.
The story touches on a pseudo-science of the all too common syndrome of the American culture of having dysfunctional families. The assumption on top of this wreckage of a family culture also turns out to be non of a comedy deserving any praise. With the story offering many twists and surprises, the movie still is not a good entertainment. The story build up takes too long. The humor often is too corny. Also the drama side often lacks strength. The acting overall is also not a good job. Adam Scott seems to forget that this movie is meant to be a comedy, delving too deep at the drama side. Richard Jenkins and Catherine O'Hara tried their best and played their parts at a standard quality for a comedy. Having Mary Elizabeth Winstead really did nothing to help the acting overall.
I was flicking through the menu for movies last night and came across A.C.O.D. I'm glad that I did. I wasn't expecting much since I had never heard of it. My preference is action and some comedies so this did not appear to be my normal type of movie and I had my finger on the remote ready to change it. Before I knew it, I got caught up in the movie and when it was over, I can honestly say that I had a few laughs and enjoyed the storyline. Jane Lynch is 'echoing' herself by listening to people on couches and she is great at it. All actors were good and if you want to watch a movie that has gravity with some comedy, then go for it.
"Them together is bad for everyone, especially me." Carter (Scott) has settled into his life as an Adult Child Of Divorce. He has a girlfriend he likes and a restaurant he owns. When his brother Trey (Duke) informs him of his engagement things begin to fall apart for Carter. First he has to try and get his parents to talk to each other so the wedding won't be ruined. Then he must keep them from getting back together for his sake. Going in with that cast I was expecting a hilarious comedy that I would be laughing at the whole time. While this was a good movie and I did like it it wasn't nearly as funny as I was expecting. There are some funny parts in this but it wasn't the laugh riot I was expecting. This is more about the selfishness of one person and how he messes with everyone's life to make him more comfortable. There is some very funny moments in this but hard to make that plot hilarious. Again though this is a good movie and worth seeing but do not expect the laugh-out-loud comedy I did. Overall, good and worth seeing but not super funny. I give it a B.