About Alex

It hits all the right issues about modern isolation and the nature of friendship, but it hits on them only tangentially and without any depth. And it doesn't really use its theme to its advantage very well. If there's one very positive thing I can say about this movie it's that once a scene gets going it starts to really get going. And then the scene ends way too soon and we're left with a sense of incompleteness. It's as if the director didn't want the players to do too much "acting" to get in the way. The set-up is weakly explained, the relationship dynamics are barely believable, and the resolution is too neatly tied up. But if you like some of the actors, it will be a pleasant if not terribly worthwhile experience. Overall, it was a missed opportunity to explore how technological progress has affected how we make and sustain friendships in a post-Big Chill world.

Its a Big Chill rip-off, which was pretty obvious 5 minutes in. They even drop the name Jeff Goldberg (wink, wink) when trying to name the lost dog. Two cute girls, 5 annoying dudes. Pathetic

This movie is beautiful. It's raw, and it's so real. I tend to find myself watching it a few times a year and still crying. It's a beautiful film that I will forever cherish.

As other reviewers have mentioned, the obvious, this is such an homage to The Big Chill that it's basically a remake. And it is SO well done! The casting is perfect, the dialogue is every bit as snappy and sharp as the original. The updates for millennials are pitch perfect. Characters complaining about our current obsession with documenting every moment instead of LIVING every moment. Our habit of referencing movies and tv shows to explain experiences and feelings...instead of actually experiencing them and describing them with...words. The writer, a Jesse Zwick, has nailed the failures, idiosyncrasies and benefits of our digital age without ever coming across as preachy or self indulgent. He observes his characters (He observes all of US) without judgement. His touch is just light enough to avoid cheesy sentimentality. Imagine handling an attempted suicide with such skill and wit. He takes us along as he imagines what might have happened if Alex, played by Kevin Costner's wrists in the original, had lived. He fleshes out the awkwardness, guilt, anger, relief that Alex's friends might have felt in the days immediately following the suicide attempt . This script could have gone so wrong. It went so right. This was Jesse Zwick's first produced script and his directorial debut. Attention must be paid. I can't wait to see what else this guy has up his sleeve. I have no complaints! I am thrilled that the director chose to not make a wall to wall "greatest hits of THAT moment" soundtrack. It would have been so easy to do and would have hit us all squarely in the feels, but choosing to keep the sound spare was a braver move. He let the writing stand on its own, and it works! The Big Chill came out when I was in high school. I am NOT a millennial, yet I did relate to many of the issues raised in the film. My friends and I went to see the film several times in the theater and then bought the damned soundtrack. I remember us cruising around our small town blasting that soundtrack from the crappy stereo system in our equally crappy cars. Freedom! One might expect that someone with such deep seated, sweet memories of the original might hate this remake/homage. They would be wrong. I loved it. That small town was in New Jersey. My memories and love of the state are just as strong as Bruce Springsteen's, though I moved away years ago. But as Josh says in one of his many quotable lines, "Never trust anyone who is that passionate about the state of New Jersey." He's not wrong; I'm an unrepentant Jersey Girl and I expect my affection for this movie will be as lasting (and irrational) as my love for my home state. Give this movie a chance. If you loved the Big Chill, you will love this too.

Aubrey? She pops in this! Do it up! One of the best mental illness movies. Everyone in the cast's best performance. Millennial essentials. You like endings or action movies? No, skip it. The ending is weird.

This movie has a great cast. It is a surprisingly lovely take on the issue of suicide. My daughter and I have watched it about a dozen times.

About Alex (2014) is about an estranged group of college friends that get together years after school when one of them attempts suicide and fails. It has a great ensemble cast of people that I've seen but weren't sure if they were great. Gladly every actor and actress was fantastic Aubrey Plaza (whom I love) is great, Maggie Grace, Jason Ritter, Nate Parker, and (my favorite) Max Greenfield among others. I love the characters and the banter along with the history of them that slowly unfolds through the drama and romance. About Alex is an amazing dramedy. Check it out on Netflix 9.5/10.

I would like to start by saying that the dialogue was—for the most part—well written, the characters were good, and the actors were really good. It sounds like a good movie right? Well, it would have been if it hadn't all been done before. I mean REALLY ALL BEEN DONE BEFORE. The Big Chill was the aftermath of a suicide in a group of college friends. The same thing here except he didn't succeed. Both characters are even named Alex! Several of the characters are carbon copies of Big Chill characters. One of the characters in About Alex is SO similar to a character in The Big Chill that they even dressed him the same right down to the horn rimmed glasses and THEN went out and found the actor that most resembled the original—Jeff Goldblum —cast member!! It was laughable! I've never experienced anything like this before. Some of the conversations were direct lifts as well regarding music of eras past. One cast member even refers to movies from the eighties. Unbelievable! The only way to logically explain it is that someone (the writer? the director?) wanted to remake The Big Chill but couldn't get the rights. So the changed as much as they had to for legal reasons. The movie closes with a flashback of the group meeting for the first time. Lawrence Kasdan also fined this scene but cut it from his film. I found myself enjoying that because I had always wanted to see that scene in The Big Chill. By the time I reached the end, the two were almost interchangeable. Oh, one more thing, the group shot at the end of About Alex i the same as the group shot on the cover of the video box for The Big Chill. Unreal.

About Alex is mainly just two hours too many to spend with characters who aren't compelling and generally act like selfish jerks. Our title character is pushed to the background and probably has the least lines of anyone. It's almost hilarious how swept aside and incidental the character Alex is in a movie called "About Alex." One gets the impression that we're meant to feel bad for him, but he's still more of a plot device than a person with a complex, nuanced personality. Most of the film dwells on the ridiculous neuroses of the other characters, which lack authenticity or originality of any kind. Drama that would be better suited to a TV sitcom than a feature length movie. Yes, the fumbling discomfort of the characters as they try to deal with Alex's attempt is something we can all sympathize with, but this is the beginning and the end of my emotional participation in this story. I have a major weakness for quirky suicide movies, but it's so important for the audience to feel something for this to work at all as the basis for a movie. Suicide is a serious subject, which About Alex seems to grasp. Although the act itself is sensationalized, it is treated with some reverence. Looking at suicide through a bizarre filter can make it easier to break down, accept, understand, but I think a strong connection between the audience and the victim is key for this to work. Overall, About Alex is pseudo-philosophical, tepid and boring. It doesn't hit the right notes emotionally and it's simply not warm enough, intimate enough, close enough. A film with a similar premise, which although not perfect itself, comes nearer to accomplishing what About Alex seems to be striving for, is A Beautiful Now. My advice is to avoid About Alex like the plague, and check that out instead; at least A Beautiful Now is interesting.

It hits all the right issues about modern isolation and the nature of friendship, but it hits on them only tangentially and without any depth. And it doesn't really use its theme to its advantage very well. If there's one very positive thing I can say about this movie it's that once a scene gets going it starts to really get going. And then the scene ends way too soon and we're left with a sense of incompleteness. It's as if the director didn't want the players to do too much "acting" to get in the way. The set-up is weakly explained, the relationship dynamics are barely believable, and the resolution is too neatly tied up. But if you like some of the actors, it will be a pleasant if not terribly worthwhile experience. Overall, it was a missed opportunity to explore how technological progress has affected how we make and sustain friendships in a post-Big Chill world.