About Alex (2014)

Waste of time

From my favorite movies..

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Despite it's generally low reviews, this is one of my favorite films. A lot of the criticism of this film is that it's "Big Chill for Millennials", but it has it's own thing going for it. They talk about things that affect us today, such as being present in the age of social media and phone addiction, and other issues specific to the current time. I thought all the performances were solid. I related to the neuroticism of many of the characters, and I feel that they are a fairly accurate representation of some my own peers and friends. I found Alex particularly relatable. Greenfield's character had me laughing with almost every line. The soundtrack is AMAZING. Yes, a bit "hipster", but I've found some great songs through this film from some very talented musicians that I had not heard of before this movie. Perfect balance of funny and dramatic.

About Alex (2014) is about an estranged group of college friends that get together years after school when one of them attempts suicide and fails. It has a great ensemble cast of people that I've seen but weren't sure if they were great. Gladly every actor and actress was fantastic Aubrey Plaza (whom I love) is great, Maggie Grace, Jason Ritter, Nate Parker, and (my favorite) Max Greenfield among others. I love the characters and the banter along with the history of them that slowly unfolds through the drama and romance. About Alex is an amazing dramedy. Check it out on Netflix 9.5/10.

This movie, About Alex, is such a copy/rip-off of The Big Chill, I honestly don't know how the Screen Writers Guild allows Jesse Zwick to pass this off as an original screenplay. Obviously, he changed the characters and dialog to update to the 21st century, but he has stolen outright so many elements from The Big Chill that there should at least be an acknowledgment, "Based on the Motion Picture..." like there are on other movies that rework original ideas for modern movies (e.g. The Evil Dead).In The Big Chill, the character who commits suicide and inspires the reunion is Alex; in this version, there is also a suicidal character named Alex, though he is unsuccessful in his suicide. One of the characters in About Alex has a younger girlfriend not originally part of the group and she feels awkward around the others - there is a similar character in The Big Chill. Two of the characters hook up after many years, there is an obligatory dance sequence, a pot smoking scene, etc. All of this is straight out of The Big Chill.At one point in About Alex, Aubrey Plaza says something to the effect of "This is like one of those movies in the 80s...". I've seen this same contrivance in other movies used as some sort of way to excuse the fact that the filmmakers have borrowed heavily from an earlier work, but personally I don't believe this is a way out from plagiarism. I know people like to quote, "plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery," but is is still plagiarism.Maybe this would have been somewhat excusable if writer/director Zwick actually had something interesting to say and was able to formulate a movie that actually spoke to people. But instead, he just goes through the predictable motions of creating characters that are so redundant that they are now virtually stereotypes (the suicidal aspiring actor, the blocked writer, etc.) and having them speak a lot of trite "socially pertinent" conversation. I get the impression Zwick just made a list of all the so-called relevant issues of today's 20/30-somethings - e.g. technology, anti-depressants, lack of good pop music - and then planned his scenes accordingly. The end result is a script that is lazy and tepid and does nothing to stand out from all the other movies dealing with these same issues.

My bias before viewing was an expectation of a massive boring failure that I would regret watching because it dealt with attempted suicide. I couldn't have been more mistaken. My reticence in watching was duly derived from substantial repetitive experiences from most all films of this type: one location with characters you never really get to know, complex back stories left unexplained, and dark subject matter. What a surprise was in store for me! In fact the sole reason drawing me to the film was the beautiful & talented Maggie Grace and a growing appreciation for Jason Ritter. Friendship in a time where Facebook & texting have relegated meeting & talking to the fate that cd's rendered the 8 track, is a constant presence in my thoughts. So, it was invigorating to see college friends nearing 30 come together to support a friend, traveling from across the country for a whirlwind philosophical, confrontational, emotive, supportive & well paced weekend of collective personal growth. There were just enough characters to keep every minute fresh with information & few enough to not gloss over any single character & give each a quality part in the story without getting lost. This movie was extremely dynamic and as such, had no lulls. It's been said, "what a difference a day makes". Lucky for the viewer, a weekend of real, old-fashioned, interpersonal exploration & reflection makes one powerful movie. There wasn't a single moral. There were many. Whether you experienced college or high school, or were close with your neighborhood friends, this movie will without a doubt hit home for you. It was interesting how the friends had achieved varied levels of societal & romantic success, yet fell right back into the rhythm of their group identities like only a summer had passed. This will be a familiar feeling to everyone. It wasn't a love fest full of sympathy & crying on shoulders, which would be totally natural & expected. It was engrossing because of the diversity of honest feelings & reactions that made the viewer easily identify with each character. All actors were grade A, & I look forward to enjoying their acting in future films. Ritter, his best friend, & Grace were the standouts & I was relieved to see Aubrey Plaza tone down her typical sarcastic personality. In doing so, she made her character more appealing & closer to the personalities of the collective cast. I think viewers on average will rate this movie ranging from 6-9/10, but as you can see for me it hammered home an expectation-defying 8/10. I highly recommend this movie as a modern adaptation of "The Big Chill" without the killer soundtrack. It was as informative and enjoyable as much as it was provocative and insightful. Knox D. Alford, III