Mark Ruffalo and Gwyneth Paltrow kick off this movie about addiction... and at first glance it's a romantic comedy about two people with an awkward obstacle, but it's really, really not. It's an unflinching look at addiction and recovery from almost all the angles.
I went into this movie with the idea that it would be a romantic comedy with most of the comedic elements focusing on sexual addiction and how funny that supposedly is, but this movie really surprised me. The romance was really just a footnote, and the sexual addiction was never ridiculed. The whole story was really about sobriety... getting to it, maintaining it, handling triggers and pitfalls, and dealing with slipping and nearly slipping.
Phoebe (Gwyneth Paltrow) is a breast cancer survivor who recently got out of a relationship with an alcoholic. Adam (Mark Ruffalo) is a five-years-sober sex addict whose sponsor Mike (Tim Robbins) thinks is ready to date again. Mike is also an alcoholic and sex addict with a substance addicted son who is trying to white-knuckle sobriety without the 12-step program. Newcomer Neil (Josh Gad) is an emergency-room doctor with a Jack Black vibe who can't seem to stop touching women (and occasionally men) inappropriately. Neil finds support in a friendship with fellow-newcomer DeDe (Alecia Moore, a.k.a. Pink) who can't figure out how to relate to men without sex.
All of these stories are sad at times, happy at times, and even though there are laughs to be had, they are all respectful of the disease of addiction. To be honest, Adam and Phoebe were the least interesting to me of the three stories told. Like all addicts, especially in film, he was eventually going to slip, and Phoebe's distrust and harpy-like behavior, while understandable, was predictable and rushed through.
I give this movie four and a half out of five. It was not perfect, but as the wife of an alcoholic who has been both in and out of recovery during our marriage, this movie was very truthful to me.
I counted eight LOLs during the film, but there were some cringe-worthy moments as well when the addicts slipped or went to dark places. I am working a very complicated lace pattern at the moment, so I can't count needle drops as I gave up a half hour in, but a lot of the movie is facial expression so unless you can craft without looking at your hands, this is not a good background-noise movie unless you are ready for frequent stops.
If you have an addict in your life, or are an addict yourself, this is a thought-provoking movie with something to say to you.
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