On the up-side, this flick was presented in an interesting way that came across as original and real-the story, the cast, the acting, the filming, all of these were stand-up and captured one's interest. On the down-side, the soundtrack was a torturous let-down; it was such a distraction and so painful that I found myself skipping thru the scenes where the music was featured, not even caring if I missed any important dialogue that might be there and bringing an otherwise solid 8-star rating down to 6.

I had the privilege of meeting Demetri Martin for the first time in this movie. Written, acted, directed and visuals. Which perhaps gives me a perspective not tainted by expectations or comparisons. I found the slow burn dry humour wonderfully fresh and exceptionally entertaining. The movie is well balanced and never goes down a rabbit hole of grief, awkwardness, friendship or life. Like a mini-golf game, the ball circles these holes masterfully and skillfully. This is a family movie without the grit in the eye and smut that clutters our screens so frequently. The soundtrack was spot-on and my 18-year-old daughter connected to the movie through this angle. In all, a good movie with a good simple story masterfully crafted. I will follow Demetri with keen interest from now on. He stirred my Woody Allen genes, which says a lot about the level his talent is benchmarked at. By me, that is. A pleasant saturday evening movie with a nice glass of Pinot.

'DEAN': Three Stars (Out of Five)An indie comedy-drama written and directed by actor Demetri Martin, who also stars in the film. Martin plays a Brooklyn cartoon artist (he also did all of the illustrations for the movie) named Dean, who recently lost his mother and broke up with his fiancé. The film costars Kevin Kline,Gillian Jacobs, Rory Scovel, Mary Steenburgen and Reid Scott. It's gotten mostly positive reviews from critics, and it won Best Narrative Feature at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, but it also underperformed at the indie Box Office. I found it to be slightly amusing, but not nearly as emotional as it seems to think it is.Dean (Martin) is a published cartoon artist who lives in Brooklyn and recently lost his mother. He's having difficulty dealing with her passing, as is his father, Robert (Kline), who's also having trouble adjusting to living alone. Dean was engaged to be married, to Michelle (Christine Woods), but after his mom died, things didn't work out. He performs very poorly in his best friend Brett's (Scott) wedding, as a 'second best man', and then travels to Los Angeles to meet with some ad executives about using his art. He meets a woman, named Nicky (Jacobs), at a Los Angeles party there, and starts to fall for her. The whole time he still tries to cope with his mother's passing, deal with his recent breakup, and try to convince his dad not to sell their family home. The movie has all of the ingredients of a well made (and emotional) comedy drama, but it feels like it's just going through all of the motions of one (to me). I think I'm a pretty big sucker for emotional dramas, but this one didn't really make me feel that much. It's slightly funny, and it's filled with sad characters, but it doesn't feel like a complete movie to me. I think Martin probably has some decent talent, as an actor and filmmaker, but he kind of misses the mark here (in my opinion).Watch an episode of our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/PdeLWCp_JrI

According to the New York Times reviewer, "Mr. Martin's take on grief is facile." As one who, with my son, is still processing the recent death of his mother, my wife of 50+ years, I take exception to Mr. Genzingler's glib assessment of Mr Martin's oeuvre. I found "Dean" to be a profoundly insightful representation of the ways in which some of us try to adjust to life without a loved one. Attempting to fill the void in one's life with another living person is a natural step in the real process of assuaging grief - not a "facile" plot device. Other critics seem to fault Mr Martin for failing to inhabit his established comic persona in the role of Dean, the grief stricken son. Yet to me, his characterization was extremely realistic, as was Kevin Kline's subtly nuanced portrayal of a man past mid-life attempting to build a bridge to a new life over a deep and enduring void. I admit I'm not familiar with Mr Martin's previous work as a writer, cartoonist, actor and comedian. But based on the quality of his innovative work on this film alone I would rank him as a creative genius and "Dean" as one of the best films I've seen in more than a half-century of movie going.