This is a story about the high personal cost of indecision. The story unfolds slowly, but this is necessary to develop the characters fully so that we can come to understand their wants and needs firsthand. Coles (Mark Ruffalo) is an artist who can't seem to make a real decision in his life and, as a result, eventually loses the only woman he ever really loved to another, more decisive man. He learns too late that "no decision is a decision". The viewer, likewise, does not realize in the beginning that Coles' indecisiveness is going to hurt him badly, and others too, since he seems to recover well several times from his errors in judgment concerning his love life. He is a lovable young man and, Sam, the woman he meets and falls in love with, forgives and forgets his many mistakes in their relationship, until one day she has been hurt too much and leaves his life for several years. Coles goes on with his life and begins living with another woman, Claire, whom he seems to love. But when Sam returns years later and bumps into him, their love for each other reignites with its original passion, and he is faced with a crucial decision: choose Sam and break off his seemingly strong relationship with Claire, or stay with Claire and let Sam go on with her life. Again, he cannot make a decision, and so circumstances decide his fate, rather than he himself. Not only does he lose Sam and a future with her (she marries a man named Jonathon suddenly), but he also loses Claire's love and respect, since Claire figures out that he loves Sam. The viewer can feel Coles' agony when he discovers that Sam has gotten married and may even pity him, but at the same time the viewer cannot ignore that Coles chose this outcome for himself simply by not choosing any other outcome.

From many comments about this film and the similar Closer, one would think all the characters were reckless libertine hedonists. They're not, they're unsuccessful serial monogamists like most of us in the modern western world. This one doesn't have the Oscar Wilde/Noel Coward wit or shocking vulgarity of Closer, but it does have amazing true-to-life performances, especially from Petra Wright (who has an aristocratic beauty similar to Mimi Rogers in Someone to Watch Over Me), Kathleen Robertson, who previously had a field day as an innocent bigamist in Gregg Araki's Splendor, Maya Strange (not Strange), who displays a vulnerability much like Natasha Gregson Wagner in some other independent films (what happened to her?). And of course Mark Ruffalo, an undecided everyman for our times, like the dog in Aesop who loses his bone because he thinks he sees a better one. And as someone remarked, this is definitely Eric Rohmer territory. Excellent writing, cinematography, and use of music, and not one redundant line or wasted shot.

I have a general positive bias towards this film because I have experienced so much of what many of these characters went through and thus was able to relate quite well. It is a film that is very in tune with the real emotions that one goes through when presented with such a bizarre situation. Even for those who have not encountered the kind of problems presented in this film it still will leave the viewer with many quandaries left to answer and will allow your mind to venture into places you did not know you could go. The writer of this film, I am almost sure, must have been through much of what was depicted in the film...it seems almost biographical. I look forward to seeing more of what this writer has to offer.

Excellent cast and intensity throughout. All characters and situations relatable to the twenty and thirty-something audience and quite believable. I just thought it moved a bit too slowly and felt long. It takes a drastic leap in time in the last half, and the cast pulls it off. But it does slow down the film a bit. Very sexy film.