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Gigantic

“Gigantic” is writer/director Matt Aselton’s debut film. He was blessed to have the cast he got and there is some definite charm in the film, but overall it is drastically lacking. The quirkiness is overplayed, which actually makes it hard to connect with some of the characters at times. There are a number of things that are left unexplained and few things are really developed nearly as much as they should have been.

Brian Weathersby, played by Paul Dano, is a 28-year-old college graduate that works in a mattress factory, selling expensive Swedish mattresses. He’s been trying to adopt a Chinese baby for years and has wanted this his entire life. He hasn’t had any luck thus far and he knows he isn’t the ideal candidate. Things seem to brighten up when a young girl, Harriet, played by Zooey Deschanel, walks in to the factory one day when Brian is working. She falls asleep on the $14,000 bed her father, played by John Goodman, bought earlier that day. Brian ends up helping deliver the bed to her the next day when he is asked to drive her father to the chiropractor. While he is with the doctor, Harriet and Brian sneak down to the car to have sex. It is unclear what their relationship is, but it is evident that they both like each other. They see each other on a few occasions which are somewhat awkward. Just as they start to get comfortable with each other, Harriet starts to get scared and doubts if she is ready for any type of consistent relationship or commitment to Brian.

The cast is great and helps bring life to the film. I’m a fan of Paul Dano, but he was the weakest link. His performance really was quite lifeless. He was supposed to be the offbeat love interest, but he didn’t come off very genuine. He hardly ever showed any emotion. Even in pivotal scenes, he only hinted on feelings that should have been evident and strong. He didn’t have any chemistry with Zooey Deschanel, which made it even harder to cheer for their relationship or even see anything real there. We certainly can’t believe that they are in love as it is suggested. Deschanel does pretty well in her portrayal of Harriet though. She’s delightful and charmingly offbeat. This makes it a little hard to read her at times, but Deschanel helps make the character appealing.

Ed Asner gives one of the film’s best performances as Brian’s 80-year-old father. He brings some needed subtle comic relief and is full or personality. Jane Alexander is also among the best, as Brian’s mother. She shows wisdom and understanding to Harriet in particular, even as an essential stranger to her when no one else seems to know what’s going on in her mind. John Goodman does well as Harriet’s somewhat nosy, but caring and supportive father. Goodman uses a very direct, but sympathetic approach. Zach Galifianakis has an uncredited, but reoccurring role as a homeless man that continuously attacks Brian. It’s very unclear the importance of this to Brian, what it means, and why it is even in the movie. Galifianakis plays it perfectly though, exerting coldness, but letting the mystery of his motives and emotions prevail.

Most of the actors manage to do well enough and make their characters seem presentable and much more knowledgeable and interesting than they actually are. Many of them are lacking depth. Brian has wanted a Chinese baby his whole life, but the reason why isn’t gone into and he doesn’t even seem to know. This might not seem like such a problem to an average 28-year-old wanting to go on to the next step in his life, but he wanted one since he was a little kid, getting angry when he got a bike instead for his eighth birthday. There is definitely some reasoning there unless this is just a quirk in the character for the sake of adding an out there element to the story. At times, Harriet just seems like a simplistic character like when she is just reading ads when Brian is reading an article on basketball playing monks in Arizona who started a fight with advertisers. She later talks about never really having a boyfriend or a real job and apparently she has attempted five different careers. Part of her that is lost; she doesn’t know what she wants to do, but knows she wants something. Commitment is clearly not easy for her as she is afraid to have anything consistent in her life. There is definite room to explore Harriet’s character, but Aselton took the easy way out and labeled her as quirky so no further work is needed.

The biggest plot hole in the film is Brian’s attacker. It is hinted that he is imagining this man. His brothers and father see him when he is shot at in the woods and, each time he is attacked, the bruises and cuts on his face remain visible, even after the fact. The idea is that it was being left up to the viewer’s interpretation whether this was real or a product of Brian’s imagination. There are too many contradictions that point to lazy screenwriting. Not to mention, Brian’s schizophrenic tendencies aren’t gone into or even acknowledged at all. There are a few scenes that felt like they were just thrown in, not necessarily feeling like they belonged in this particular movie. Aside from the attack scenes, the massage scene seems pretty random, although it was clearly meant to be funny and bizarre. Majority of the film is simply odd conversations woven in to peculiar people with strange characteristics. There isn’t even much of a plot and certainly not much in the way of conflict or tension. Amazingly though, “Gigantic” gives off the perception that it is a far better film with more interesting characters, largely thanks to the mostly solid performances of the cast members. I actually did get some enjoyment out of the film, but this also brought to my attention how much better the film could have been.

Written by: Kelsey Zukowski

Reviewers Rating: 6
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