Dean

source: Dean

I LOVE Demetri Martin's standup. Here, he is writing and directing a film, in the comedy category, about death and grief. He's Dean, who is dealing with his dad (Kevin Kline). Robert is dealing with the loss of his wife, and has decided to sell the house. Mary Steenburgen is Carol, the realtor who will be selling the house. Which Dean isn't happy about. Martin's own artwork and humor are interspersed. There's a funny bit at the wedding where he does a clever word play bit when he gives his toast. The other best man is such an idiot, he thinks he's been insulted. Martin uses a bunch of other comedians in the film: Asif Ali, Jon Benjamin, Beck Bennett. I'm a huge demetri fan, so i liked it. The airplane scene was a little weird. It took a minute to figure out what happened. I totally get the awkwardness Dean feels with everyone. His father. His old friends. Meeting new friends. Potential employers. I loved how no approach worked with the girls... at first, the best friend's line worked, but later, he can't say anything right, and the chicks like Dean instead. It's all pretty random. Which i think is the secret to Martin's humor.

Just finished watching "Dean" and don't have intense thoughts or feelings staying with me as one does with the best films. I did enjoy watching it though, for there was enough thoughtful and humorous content to keep me involved. I think the low-key personality of Dean worked well in showing a young creative man dealing with grief and his own personality issues. I had the sense life wasn't exactly a great fun ride for him even before his mother's death. The use of his cartoons and his subtle sense of humor served to highlight the troubling aspects of the main characters' lives, including, not only Dean, but Robert (Kevin Kline), and Dean's so-called best friend, Eric. They were all dealing with loneliness and loss in one way or another. What didn't quite make it with me was the score. I've never been a fan of this type of music which I'll call folksy-pop music. In this case the songs' lyrics related to the action that was taking place, e.g., when Dean makes the somewhat out-of-character move of leaving the airplane just before takeoff because a woman he liked called him, the song's main lyric was "I'm a gambler..." Because I find this music to be almost sappy, having it accompany strong emotional moments seemed corny to me, and didn't enhance a film that already has its elements of nerdiness. While for me it was a pleasant way to spend an hour and a half, I could see how a viewer who's personally dealing with loss of a loved one might get more out of it.

The movie really drags when Kevin Kline isn't in it. The girl from Community is pretty good too. The lead guy is dreadfully boring, but his cartoons are a trip.

Standout of the film is the artwork done by Martin...sort of the Far Side revisited, clever and wordless. The film is close to wordless as well, relying on one of the most intrusive and off-putting film scores I've ever experienced. (I watched on Netflix, put on closed caption, and muted out the songs generally after just a few bars). The film is thoughtful in presenting a portrait of grief, but at 90 minutes, it feels about 30 minutes too long. The film's ending didn't convince me of the character's develpment. Fine performance by Kevin Kline is worth noting.

I watched for the first 45 minutes and wondered if there was any merit to the movie. I had about 3 laughs and was sad at the end. It was way too slow to develop and for a movie that said it was comedy, there really wasn't any. I feel the time spent to watch was not worth it.

Dimitri Martin writes, directs, and stars here as Dean, who is an illustrator and writer trying to cope with the recent loss of his mother. He's also struggling in his relationship with his father Robert (Kevin Kline), who is also finding his own ways of grieving his loss. With work on his next book blocked by his sadness, Dean decides to travel from Brooklyn to Los Angeles to meet with a dot.com ad agency who have expressed interest in his drawings. While there, Dean will hook up with some old friends like Eric (Rory Scovel) and Becca (Briga Heelan), as well as meeting a new woman Nicky (Gillian Jacobs).I thought the scenes with his friends and Nicky worked well and were often heartfelt and humorous. However, other parts of this movie seemed awkward and flat, so a mixed bag overall. All in all, I thought this rather quirky and oddball dramedy, employing lots of deadpan humor, was only partially successful.

'Dean' is about a man dealing with (or not dealing with) the emotional consequences of the death of his mother. There were a lot of funny and poignant moments, but a lot of the time it felt glib to me. There were good visual humor jokes. The character is a cartoonist, so there were a lot of his excellent cartoons (which were actually done by Demetri Martin, who played Dean as well as writing and directing the film. The cartoons express what's going on in his psyche, and were my favorite part of the movie. There were also a LOT of parallels with Zach Braff's "Garden State", which I liked better. Death of mother; father trying to cope and trying ineptly to connect with his son; romance; visual jokes; flights to L.A.; even a reference to dog's sniffing your crotch.

'DEAN': Three Stars (Out of Five) An indie comedy-drama written and directed by actor Demetri Martin, who also stars in the film. Martin plays a Brooklyn cartoon artist (he also did all of the illustrations for the movie) named Dean, who recently lost his mother and broke up with his fiancé. The film costars Kevin Kline,Gillian Jacobs, Rory Scovel, Mary Steenburgen and Reid Scott. It's gotten mostly positive reviews from critics, and it won Best Narrative Feature at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, but it also underperformed at the indie Box Office. I found it to be slightly amusing, but not nearly as emotional as it seems to think it is. Dean (Martin) is a published cartoon artist who lives in Brooklyn and recently lost his mother. He's having difficulty dealing with her passing, as is his father, Robert (Kline), who's also having trouble adjusting to living alone. Dean was engaged to be married, to Michelle (Christine Woods), but after his mom died, things didn't work out. He performs very poorly in his best friend Brett's (Scott) wedding, as a 'second best man', and then travels to Los Angeles to meet with some ad executives about using his art. He meets a woman, named Nicky (Jacobs), at a Los Angeles party there, and starts to fall for her. The whole time he still tries to cope with his mother's passing, deal with his recent breakup, and try to convince his dad not to sell their family home. The movie has all of the ingredients of a well made (and emotional) comedy drama, but it feels like it's just going through all of the motions of one (to me). I think I'm a pretty big sucker for emotional dramas, but this one didn't really make me feel that much. It's slightly funny, and it's filled with sad characters, but it doesn't feel like a complete movie to me. I think Martin probably has some decent talent, as an actor and filmmaker, but he kind of misses the mark here (in my opinion). Watch an episode of our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/PdeLWCp_JrI

Don't know if this really happen to star writer and director Demetri Martin but it does feels personal and a very real processes of grieving. What is it with Gillian Jacobs' being cast to be the girlfriend of these awkward guys? Guess that's her thing (I'm just assuming based on her role in Love on Netflix). Not enough Kevin Kline in this movie and that's a shame. Not into romantic comedies but I would love to see one if Kevin Kline is playing a man looking for love. The both times I recall him doing it (including this one) have him doing some really good acting. Charming and expressive, It felt like he was really into the woman he was courting. Then again, I'm sure it's not hard to fall in love with Mary Steenburgen (Who was in the Last movie I saw Kline get romantic in, Last Vegas) It reminds me of Nebraska but not as good. Just in the concept that those who can relate to the material would like it more. http://cinemagardens.com