James Franco's latest film has squarely in dramatic territory as an actor struggling with a mental disorder that forces him to leave acting and focus on an writing career.
Franco is a fascinating guy. It's so hard to try and pin down what it is that makes him tick. Last year alone he starred in a big budget blockbuster for Disney, rocked some dreadlocks and a grill for and experimental film-maker, and had a multi-episode guest spot on a network sitcom. The guy does it all. Maladies is from is writer-director Carter, a multimedia artist who's first feature film had Franco laying himself and reenacting his own film and tv work. Carter has worked in painting, photography, even sculpting, and his work has been exhibited in museums like the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
This trailer does a solid job of introducing us to the basic premise of the film and but I had trouble identifying the tone of the film. Franco's character James is clearly dealing with an illness that is affecting his life in a really negative way. Mental illness is a pretty heavy subject and the film seems to frame James as a quirky guy more than anything and few things are definitely played for laughs. The voice in James' head in particular made me chuckle a couple times. The cast looks solid and everyone seems to be doing decent work if nothing spectacular. The film was shot in 2010 so I'm curious what took it so long to make it to theaters. Hopefully it has nothing to do with the quality of the film because this looks like it could be a nice time at the movies.