Reviewed by Mike Leader
Stars Paul Dano, Zooey Deschanel, Edward Asner, Jane Alexander, John Goodman,
Sean Dugan, Louis Ozawa Changchien, Zach Galifianakis | Written by Matt Aselton & Adam Nagata
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £14.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 98 minutes | Directed by Matt Aselton
Quirky "indie" comedies are a dime a dozen nowadays, and seem to become more formulaic and less, well, independent with each year. Gigantic, the debut feature by writer-director Matt Aselton, tries to single itself out in this saturated marketplace, but, with its spotty inspiration, it doesn't quite get beyond novelty.
Dano stars as Brian, a young mattress salesman whose one goal in life is to adopt a Chinese baby – a goal complicated by his youth and bachelor status. Further complications present themselves as larger-than-life, borderline-psychotic businessman Al (Goodman) and his ethereally attractive, candidly sexual daughter Happy (Deschanel) barge their way into his life.
Aselton's script, co-written with Adam Nagata, drops off-centre characters in the mundane minutiae of life. The central storyline covers the bases of romance, family and responsibility, but works well with this well-worn subject matter due to some hard-edged flights of absurd humour. Goodman is particularly strong, displaying the kind of unhinged, scene-stealing character that he usually reserves for the Coen Brothers. The romantic leads, on the other hand, offer performances that are either quietly vapid, or quietly subtle, depending on the viewer's kindness.
A stapled-on subplot, featuring a hit-man pursuing Brian throughout the film, works to differentiate Gigantic from the crowd. While these sequences are shot with the unsettling tension of a David Lynch film, they are unexplained and aren't related to the plot as a whole – giving it a kind of enigmatic irrelevance. It makes Gigantic an interesting, diverting viewing, but it feels frustratingly shallow in retrospect.
EXTRAS None