I was riveted by this movie that was able make the "everyday" profoundly dramatic. No small feat when a movie continually employs texts, online messages and characters staring at their devices. Normally this "dead time" would challenge the pacing and action but the subtext is so subtly built upon with tremendous acting that this movie achieves my expectations of a great drama. Not just tears... er, the roller-coaster of the character's journey but a mirror of the challenges many of us can relate to. In this case, it's life and love in this new digital age. The topic was explored with an unscathing hand so we felt the deep affects of everyday digital minutiae without even needing to explore the more extreme consequences of online interaction like cyber bullying, etc. It felt implied to me. Our worlds and our hearts are built on communication and the platform of that communication, shapes it.

A group of high school teenagers and their parents attempt to navigate the many ways the Internet has changed their relationships, their communication, their self-image, and their love lives. Starring Jennifer Garner, Judy Greer, Dean Norris, Adam Sandler, J.K Simmons and many more "Men, Women & Children" is a film that tries to showcase in different groups of people that try to use the internet but also how each and every single one of them gets affected from it. Now let me start by saying this, the film has a very talented cast and each actor gives a very down to earth performance and i found the drama to handled very well by Jason Reitman, where the film lost it's focus i think was with the story of Don Truby (Sandler) and Helen Truby (DeWitt) and it's not like the actors were bad or anything it's just that the whole story around them was just not very dramatic or interesting to begin with, the most interesting storyline of the movie for me was the story of Allison Doss that was a very dramatic tale and something that many girls in real life suffer from plus Dean Norris (Breaking Bad) also gave a very good performance as well. This is not a movie for everyone for sure i mean i'm sure that some people will find it boring or other just feel like something it's lacking but if you have never seen this before give it a shot you might actually enjoy it a lot. (8/10)

I went into this movie without many expectations, as it was more-so something to fall asleep to. However, I ended up incredibly invested right away.I'm giving this an 8 out of 10 because there are some loose ends in the movie that left me feeling unsatisfied. The plot for Brandy and Tim was most important to me, and I would give their story alone a 10/10. Ansel Elgort was flawless in his role, building a very convincing and real-feeling relationship with himself and Brandy. I wasn't sold on Brandy's character at first, but she really won me over.Kent and Donna's mini-plot was really a great addition to the movie, as I felt it was needed to balance out many of the wild plots happening between other characters. It was simple, sweet, and tied up very nicely at the hospital in the end.I was content with the ending to Allison's story, although I felt there should have been a minor focus on her realizing Brandon was a jerk, for a lack of nicer words, and more focus on her addressing her real problems.I am most disappointed with where Chris and Hannah ended up. I felt that their plot was abruptly cut off and basically tossed in the garbage. I was expecting their plot to pick back up after Hannah left her mom's car and stormed away. However, I can accept this because I'm sure it would have ultimately needed far more time than the movie would allow to round out their story.I was also very impressed with the work put into the 'technological' aspect of the movie, re-creating all of the social media. The on-screen messaging overlay was a great touch, and helped to really tie in the themes of the movie.Overall, this movie left me feeling pretty emotional. It also left me wanting another movie with more about Tim and Brandy. I'm glad I decided to watch this.

Men, Women, & Children, a romantic comedy about the way society lives now and how the internet is impacting people's lives is brought to life by writer-director Jason Reitman. With the lack of a leading character, the film is displayed by five families' struggles in everyday life. Men, Women, & Children has a serious tone and an eye opening message; however, it isn't the most fascinating and lacks the good laugh of a comedy. The actors took the roles of these troubled characters very well. They created a very realistic atmosphere for the viewer. Each character deals with a tough time in their lives, whether its feeling unsatisfied with themselves or being constantly told by others how they are supposed to act. All of the characters decide to ignore their problems and create alternate lives for themselves. Well, those alternative lives are only good for so long until someone he or she loves takes it away.This film displays both the lives of adults and teenagers. There is the married couple (Adam Sandler and Rosemary Dewitt) whose marriage isn't satisfying anymore and they both sneak away to find some satisfaction. Patricia (Jennifer Garner) is an overprotective mom who monitors everything her daughter does over the internet because everyone is a "predator" in her mind. Brandy (Kaitlyn Dever) is the daughter of Patricia and just wants to be herself, instead of the person her mother wants her to be. Brandy's love interest Tim (Ansel Elgort) is a football star that recently quit football and has reached out to people over an online video game for comfort. Donna (Judy Greer) and her daughter Hannah (Olivia Crociccha) who will both do anything for Hannah to become an actress, even if that means posting risky photos on a website. The last teenagers that the film follows are Allison (Elena Kampouris) an anorexic cheerleader and Chris (Travis Tope) a guy addicted to porn.The film is shot in short cuts, including a bunch of twists and turns in the plot and an overlapping storyline between the characters. A random documentary type voice comes in at different parts of the film with a picture of starry skies and a wandering spaceship, which seems out of place. Besides that fact, the set is designed well to fit the story. The teens' rooms are messy, their clothes are modern day style, and the technology appears to be everything that is used today. The film is an accurate description of how technology has played a role on not only teenagers, but also adults' lives. The film was awkward at moments and pretty unsatisfying due to its dull ending. For being in the comedy/drama genre, the movie is not humorous like Reitman's past films Juno and Up in the Air. The special effects were astonishing with all the graphics of the text messages, games, and social media sites above the heads of the people walking around. The film showed how dependent most people are of their phones and computers, and how easy people are distracted from what is around them. I would recommend watching this film for its eye opening storyline, but it isn't the most captivating movie and isn't funny at all. Props to Reitman for getting an eye opening story across, but there are some quirks that need fixing.