Instantly tedious, this Manhattan melodrama provides snippets into the lives of mostly unrelated characters with all sorts of problems that make a good majority of them turn into complete narcissistic animals. I can relate to the young girl who confesses to hating the obsession with devices over real interaction with people, accusing herself of being guilty of it as well. I find her hypocritical even in her honesty, and in her therapy, there seems to be nothing that she can do. She claims to be taken totally by surprise that this has taken over society, resentful that she was never told the rules (that obviously were never created), and her distaste for the lack of proper communication, ironically spoken in modern tongue that really doesn't say much but is embedded in the mind yet can't be formulated into understandable sentences. She's a perfect representation of the "safety pin" wearing, "cutting" age, taking out her self hatred in ways that most people can't fathom. I've had that distaste in my own aura for at least two decades, and in my own vision of what common decency and sensible behavior find that we live in a world of uncommon sense, each residing with an I.D. for our own state of confusion. I was hoping to care about the characters closer in social status and race and age to my own, and found myself caring more involved in issues that have long plagued our planet rather than those suffering from social insecurities brought on by their addiction to all things fake that make drugs and alcohol seem tame in comparison. Even with its attempts to show the evils of the technologies of today (something I truly believe), I found its methods not satisfying or presenting of a decent solution. That makes the film ultimately pointless and dangerous in revealing that the disease of technology is a plague we are simply stuck with whether we like it or not. Sam Waterston has several interesting monologues, but all it succeeded in doing was perplex me even more. That's what this film is, a trip to the state of confusion with characters whose own mindset is selfish at best and misanthropic at its worst. I can feel for the drug addict forced into rehab, the past retirement age professor who is brutally mugged and even the socially confused youngsters. But there is no sense of wanting a desire for improvement, no desire to be a decent loving and understanding parent, and certainly no desire to respect the parent even when disappointed in them. All this does is show how messed up society has become under certain liberal agendas. That makes it at its best, boring, and at its worst, more depressing than an Edward Albee play. While the ending tries its best to be profound, it went all over the map in trying to get there and reminded me of the issues of this era I can't even begin to sympathize with, let alone the generation of dimwits who continue to blame the problems on the world on innocent people without seeing the entire picture yet continuing to thrive on the existence of their phones. Even with talents like Sam Waterston and a totally wasted Glenn Close, I think this one to really be skipable.

Hadn't heard of the film and was scrolling through the HBO/Netflix/Showtime monotony when I stumbled upon it. Kept my interest from start to finish, nothing spectacular but a solid NYC character study of some seemingly random story lines divinely intertwined. Feels a bit forced at times but overall quite enjoyable. I am probably a bit biased living in NYC to be honest but the setting probably elevated my rating a half point or so. Overall casting was solid with a few recognizable faces scattered through an otherwise random cast. 90 minutes was the right amount of time. Would have rated it an 8 but a couple of the story lines just didn't work for me. Definitely better than a lot of the other films being pushed out. 7/10.

What's the point of life? The film begs the question. Tim Blake Nelson has made one of the most pretentious and bombastic films, pandering to pseudo-intellectual movie "buffs" to converse over their vegan, 5-calorie, triple shot macchiatos. Every character is too self-aware of their existence. They all question, rather than investigate the point of life, which is lazily done through characters reflecting out loud why they do the things they do.At the beginning of the film, Walter asks why we continue bringing children into a world so cruel. Why bring children into the world and not teach them respect so they can't say lines such as: "So dad can be gone all the time and you can be drunk all night?" This, by a 10-year-old. In another scene, teenage kids tell their parents to "F off" and that smoking weed every day is less potent than the parents' 4 glasses of wine at night. Right.Throughout the film, Kristen Stewart goes on various diatribes informing us pseudo-intellectuals how unhappy she is, because she is alive and can't stop being alive. She harms herself with a curling iron and when asked why, she says, "to remind myself of why I'm here." She's mad at the world that they can't change and even more mad at herself that she can't change either. That is exhausting to try to translate. I half expected her to take out Romeo's poison and drink it as a last "screw you" to the world, but alas, she will have to endure the curse of life like the rest of us. Also, don't do drugs.

This is one of those Thoughtful "Good Try" Films that will be Proudly Ignored, Shunned, and Berated by the Masses as Pretentious Pandering to the Intellectuals and Targeted for Snobby Thinkers who Think Too Much and Look Down on those that don't Think Enough.Like the "Machines" Generations that have Grown Up on 1's and 0's and Tiny Rectangular Devices that are Like Weapons some Alien Race would Covertly Introduce into Society to Extract the Soul and Take Over the Planet.Everyone is "In Pain". Probably since the Beginning of Time because it is a "House of Pain" that is Our Home. Sure there's Pleasure but only for Balance. The Universal "Law" of Duality is Inescapable, things are Born (even stars), begin to Atrophy and Die, Not without much Pain in the Process. This may be the most Compelling Argument for the Non-Existence of "God". Aside from a Jokester Creator, what sense, other than Sadism or Entertainment, would make the Creator of the Universe Stoop to the "Big things eating little things" to Survive, the MO of Existence. Philosophy Strains to Explain, and Religions Really Strain to Explain.Writer/Director/Actor Tim Blake Nelson Really Really Strains to Explain in the Form of a Film that Wears its Pain on its Sleeve and is a Pain most of the Time Wallowing in the Non-Sense of it all (Life), and the Futility of Trying Trying Trying to Lecture when the Subject Matter has been Lectured to Death since Humans began to Think. If this Sounds like Something You want to Wrap Your Head Around, this Movie's for You. But be Advised, it is Recommended You are "Comfortably Numb" while Viewing.While the Movie makes No Bones that it is Thinking, and Thinking and Thinking, Philosophy, Religion, and yes, Screenplays can do No More than Present What is Happening but Not Why and Life most of the Time does Not End Pleasantly, like a Knife in the Back.