First of all, it's good, but not really great. Though some if it is.Melanie Lynskey and Anna Camp are great. Their roles are quite different, but both are perfectly believable as "normal on-the-surface yet a little crazy" women. Seeing them brings memories of similar women you met in your life. They're not just believable, but very entertaining.Story is good, but, would benefit from more coherence and a clearer line/thread. The idea probably was that this be more like a documentary, and life isn't clear. But, it went too far. I don't believe, as some do, that the end was any worse than the rest of it. It's consistent with the rest.The directing and production quality is lacking. It's good enough, but could have been (much) better.There are many funny moments to experience and most are not jokes or gags, but seek a more deep/meaningful humor.It's not a "feel-good" movie, it's not a provocative movie, it's not a movie that makes you think deep about something. It's a movie that makes you go "yeah, life is weird, but one can have fun with it".

One of the most successful things about the movie is that after all we've seen Otto go through, when he's presented with a major fork-in-the-road life choice, the viewer may still wonder which way he'll go. The scenes with Otto and his daughter were most affecting. The daughter is the most fully-realized female character; the other women are there for Otto to bounce off of, literally and figuratively. I found myself thinking about Otto after I'd seen the movie, recalling the lows he endures, the conversation in the back yard where he confesses his feelings of being adrift, and then how he ultimately responds. For me the statement made might be summed up as "a meaningful life derives from doing your duties and paying attention to others."

I always appreciate when a writer finally gets to direct his own work, and does a good job of it. Angus MacLachlan earns his stripes on GOODBYE TO ALL THAT (2014, Theatrical), an audience-pleasing comedy with enough drama to make the characters and their evolving situation realistic and empathetic.Paul Schneider, a North Carolina School of the Arts alumnus, like MacLachlan, is cast against type as Otto, a droopy-eyed schlemiel who has the best of intentions but weak-willed execution. Even his name exudes limpness. Schneider, who has moved on from David Gordon Green movies to critical acclaim in Jane Campion's BRIGHT STAR (2009), won the Tribeca Film Festival Best Actor award for his performance in GOODBYE, and it's merited.Playing a kind of well-intentioned loser is a challenge for a usually stalwart actor, but Schneider works hard to keep his character's head above water, given the unending litany of disasters that befall him. He could have a nice chat with Professor Larry Gopnik from the Coen Bros.' A SERIOUS MAN (2012) about just what they did to deserve God's disfavor.In Otto's case, he breaks his leg on a run, his wife (Melanie Lynskey) abruptly leaves him, he loses his job and moves to a slovenly new place where he is promptly robbed. Can it get much worse? This does not sound like a recipe for a successful comedy, but this is where MacLachlan's writing skills (see JUNEBUG (2005), the movie that launched Amy Adams' career) and his clear aptitude for directing shine through.Otto goes through a somewhat familiar series of dating adventures in a new, online world, but MacLachlan's female characters are more sharply etched and memorable than usual.This especially applies to Anna Camp, another NCSA alum, as the inimitable Debbie Spangler, a lusty Christian woman who is as divided in her desires as Liv Ullmann in PERSONA (1966), along with Heather Graham, and Ashley Hinshaw. There is the usual embarrassment involving a pre-teen daughter, and Audrey P. Scott acquits herself very well in that role under MacLachlan's assured direction.It helps to have gone to acting school if you're a first-time director, and MacLachlan's sensitivity to his cast, particularly Scott, results in consistently good performances from the ensemble.Otto loves and learns, but not the essential lessons. One of the few drawbacks to GOODBYE is that his realization comes too late in the movie to be really meaningful in drawing him out of his doldrums.Heather Lawless, as the woman he seemed finally destined to be with, shows up so late she seems halfway out the door when we first meet her. She's an interesting presence and MacLachlan might have done better to spend more time with her and less with the bimbos, amusing as they may be.It's difficult to do a contemporary romantic comedy without falling into clichés and tropes, and MacLachlan stumbles into a few along the way.But I found GOODBYE TO ALL THAT refreshingly entertaining and interesting, and its fast pace (a welcome 87 minutes) and smooth performances left me feeling only a little frustrated by the abrupt ending. This is one director whose sophomore film I will look forward to with anticipation.

GOODBYE TO ALL THAT is an offbeat saga of a clueless guy finally finding his way. Too many plot gimmicks and difficulty in relating to the main character marks this as an interesting but unsuccessful exercise.Paul Schneider, best known on TV's Parks and Recreation, stars as Otto, a runner who stumbles in the opening sequence, severely injuring his foot. A doctor later mockingly threatens to cut it off if he doesn't stop stressing the limb, but Otto predictably keeps running anyway. His character is an athlete used to persevering through pain, and writer- director Angus MacLachlan surely piles on plenty of pain for the rest of the film (script has him accident-prone, even losing a capped tooth twice, once swallowed).His beautiful wife Annie (Kiwi thesp Melanie Lynskey) drops the first bomb by inviting him early on to a therapy session, in which he's flatly informed their marriage is over. Otto is so clueless he doesn't even know she's seeing a therapist, and the comical scene sets up the premise of his being a schlub who doesn't really pay attention to what's going on in his life.Actress-heavy cast has women portrayed in very negative terms, with Otto always the center of attention and carrying film's point-of-view. While not overtly sexist this motif is tiresome as we are treated to the self-centered wife, callous therapist, strange and slightly threatening boss (comedienne Amy Sedaris effective in a brief turn) and a succession of extremely flakey women who all hop in the sack with Otto once he's separated from his wife. Outlandish (and unbelievable) premise is that these beautiful women can't keep their hands off him, just as in a lousy vintage porn film. GOODBYE TO ALL THAT is far from porn of course, with the sex scenes played more for laughs than eroticism. Guest star Heather Graham even manages to consummate a zip-less intercourse with Otto without removing a single article of her clothing. A cute sex toy is featured in several scenes for effective laughs and even plot device (pun intended) usage, qualifying the film in contemporary standards of vulgar comedy. The film's likely R rating, however, will undoubtedly stem from frequent dropping of the F-bomb on the soundtrack, rather than visual sex content.Schneider tries hard but fails to be believable as the ladies' man hero (though I see one fan compares his looks rather wishfully to tennis great Roger Federer). As written, the role's combination of ineptness and wishy-washyness with allure and sexiness would probably call for the talents of the late Dudley Moore - I can't think of a current A-list star who would qualify, maybe Ashton Kutcher in a stretch.Only truly sympathetic character is Otto's nine-year-old daughter (well-played by Audrey Scott), around which his life ultimately revolves. She is the force behind the film's "lady or the tiger" ending, which rounds out auteur MacLachlan's themes.Film reminded me vaguely of John Cheever's classic story THE SWIMMER, which was made into an unsuccessful film starring Burt Lancaster in the '60s, though Otto's journey doesn't rise to the allegorical level of its predecessor. Over-dependence (as in so many 21st Century movie and TV productions) on mobile technology to carry the story forward is a major drawback. In this case Otto uses Facebook or his mobile phone to call or text women leading to the hookups. His lost love crush on Lara (Heather Lawless) is rekindled after seeing her at a 20 year reunion, but he only sees her (in 2 scenes) face to face for less than 5 minutes, ruining the "reconnected" premise.North Carolina locations are attractive and perhaps the film's greatest asset.