Other People (2016)

It is a performances centric movie

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

maybe its because he is gay and people are idiots, i dunno but the main theme of this film is cancer, family, and living what time is left... i never cry and never leave reviews but this film had me crying with laughter and then 20 minutes later sobbing my heart out... if you watch one film this month please let it be this one...the acting is amazing, its one of those films that you forget is even pretend, i was fully fully invested in each character and it was beautifully shot, great soundtrack and written perfectly. an almost perfect film.as i said i never leave reviews but this deserves it. just watch the trailer and i swear you will download this movie... great job to all involved... spectacular.

I very much enjoyed this film and didn't see a preview beforehand, so I didn't know what to expect. I watched it because it had Molly Shannon in it, and she's just a peach. Upon watching this.. I'm like, "OK, we got a gay character....OK, another gay character... Oh, no we are in a gay bar making jokes." So that was a pleasant surprise there. Also, this movie isn't "hilarious" as I saw on advertisements and such. This movie has its funny moments, but it's camouflaged over top of very touching emotional issues and Molly Shannon's character, whom is a dying of cancer. So, "hilarious" is too much of a word to say considering I was crying with little hints of chuckling here and there. This movie deserves better ratings, but people suck.. So, I can't expect more than the rating it has. Also, I'd like to say that Jesse Plemons did a GREAT job in his role. I forgot that he was in other movies to be honest, because he was so believable as this gay character... And I hadn't paid that much attention to his work before this. :/ I do remember him in Battleship upon seeing he was in that like 10 minutes ago, and remember thinking he was a little cutie. He has a Matt Damon thing about him going on. I guess his character in this film reminded me of myself, very much so.. And I just wanted to give him a big hug. But enough about me.. Just watch it if you want to watch something touching and you feel compassion for families dealing with losing someone.

A comedy writer returns from NYC to his childhood home in Sacramento for an indefinite period, at a time when his Mom is undergoing treatment for cancer and when he has just ended a five-year relationship. Presented in episodic, "slice-of-life" scenes titled with every month in what is unavoidably a really terrible year for this guy, the story is economically told yet beautifully cohesive.You might think a story dealing with a parent's serious illness and impending death would necessarily flirt with sentimentality, but writer-director Chris Kelly (whose own experiences are the obvious source material) is so truthful and self-aware that he almost completely manages to avoid every pitfall. Instead, we get an honest picture of the struggle to find or 'feel' meaning in this year spent, with somewhat mixed feelings, in the bosom of a fairly loving but realistic family--living in his childhood bedroom, sleeping in his old twin bed, and struggling with writer's block at his childhood mahogany desk (his greatest heart's desire as a 2nd-grader).As Kelly's unlikely stand-in, David, Jesse Plemons gives a fantastically honest & fearless performance. (As with Season 2 of the FX series "Fargo," I kept thinking, "Who is this guy?? How does he have the guts to be so exposed?") Plemons does addled, understated angst like nobody else. As his ex, Zach Woods (only familiar to me from "Silicon Valley" and "The Office") is a revelation of sweetness and adorability. (I sort of hope they get back together...) Many people will find Molly Shannon's performance as the Mom with cancer extremely powerful and brave. Yes, she was very good... skirting the threat of sentimentality and managing to avoid it in almost every scene. The Dad's and sisters' roles are not as prominent, which is probably part of the point. But I wouldn't have minded seeing them beefed up a bit. The conflict between David and his Dad over his sexual orientation might have better served as fodder for another story and another movie. Its presence in this movie sometimes seemed a bit off-topic, needlessly shifting the focus.In a sort-of-gratuitous but very enjoyable role, J.J. Totah appears as a campy tween drag queen, the adopted younger brother of an old high school friend. At the Busan film festival screening full of Koreans that I attended, he was a clear audience favorite.Sacramento is depicted as a provincial no-man's land, and the scene in a local gay bar was definitely non-PC. It might bother some viewers, but illustrates the writer-director's commitment to total honesty, even at the cost of losing a little respect from adherents of social justice.Does David ever find the meaning and connection he is hoping for? I recommend that you see the film and decide for yourself.8.5 -- possibly 9

Rarely am I surprised by a film. Even less rare am I left speechless. It has already all been done and said, right? Turns out the answer to that question is no. This incredibly brilliant and quiet film reintroduces family and humanness to a world that desperately needs to see the transformative power that tragedy and suffering can bring to a family and community. Molly Shannon is a revelation. She is purely breath-taking in her nuanced and authentic performance. The family that surrounds her in this film is brilliantly cast and subtly and not so subtly used to portray emotion and experience and raw realness. I cannot wait to see this film again and to share it with everyone I care about.