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Gigantic

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Gigantic (2008)

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Reviews Counted:72

Fresh:27

Rotten:45

Average Rating:4.7/10

Consensus: This overly quirky, incessantly whimsical indie is too self-conscious for its own good.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language, some sexual content and violence.

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Apr 3, 2009 Limited

Synopsis: GIGANTIC’s Brian Weathersby (Paul Dano) isn’t your average 28-year-old man. He sleepily works as a mattress salesman while he tries to fulfill his lifelong dream of adopting a Chinese baby. But... GIGANTIC’s Brian Weathersby (Paul Dano) isn’t your average 28-year-old man. He sleepily works as a mattress salesman while he tries to fulfill his lifelong dream of adopting a Chinese baby. But Brian’s somnambulist state is interrupted by the arrival of Harriet Lolly (Zooey Deschanel), who prefers going by the name "Happy." She stops by the mattress store after her rich, bullying father (John Goodman) buys the most expensive bed on the salesroom floor, and she immediately draws Brian into her world. A romance with Happy beckons, but Brian is close to achieving his goal. Now if he could only avoid the violent attacks of the crazy homeless man who is stalking him.... Like many small black comedies, GIGANTIC is driven by its characters, an indie-rock soundtrack, and some seemingly random elements that set it apart from its studio counterparts. But GIGANTIC’s tiny status doesn’t mean that it is lacking in the casting department. LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and THERE WILL BE BLOOD have demonstrated Dano’s range, and he plays a fully formed character here. Deschanel (YES MAN) again plays a vibrant, quirky love interest that will be familiar to viewers of indie films like GARDEN STATE and her own work in WEEDS and FLAKES. But the prize should really go to Goodman, who adds authenticity to his character’s strangeness, remaining likable even as he threatens the lives of Brian’s parents. [More]

Starring: Paul Dano, Zooey Deschanel, John Goodman, Ed Asner

Starring: Paul Dano, Zooey Deschanel, John Goodman, Ed Asner, Jane Alexander, Zach Galifianakis

Director: Matt Aselton

Director: Matt Aselton
Screenwriter: Adam Nagata, Matt Aselton
Producer: Mindy Goldberg, Christine Vachon
Studio: First Independent Pictures

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Release:

Aug 11, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo - English
  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Gigantic

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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Gigantic tries so hard to be cute and quirky it forgets it should also try to be interesting.

Full Review Source: Sunday Mirror [UK] | comment 1 Comment
06/19/09
Mark Adams
Mark Adams
Sunday Mirror [UK]

There's nothing inside, nothing to connect the film with the emotions of living people.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment 2 Comments
04/03/09
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

The film obviously got a grant from Cool Aid, the endowment fund targeted at US filmmakers with nothing to say but a million airheaded ways to say it.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment 1 Comment
06/19/09
Nigel Andrews
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

The characters and situations are a little too quirky for their own good. Everyone is skewed off-center and, while that can be charming in small measures, Gigantic overdoses on it.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment 1 Comment
04/01/09
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This film is entirely empty: empty of substance, devoid of plausible characters, and without anything like a satisfying style.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment 1 Comment
06/19/09
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]

An oddball romantic comedy about the relationship between a nurturing male and a ditzy young woman who doesn't have a clue as to what she really wants.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment 1 Comment
04/02/09
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Gigantic plays like a Sundance movie with half the nouns removed; fetchingly cryptic for a while, it's ultimately just obscure.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment 1 Comment
04/23/09
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There was just something about this movie that drew me in. Part of it is the borderline surreal method with which the film tells its story.

Full Review Source: Film School Rejects | comment 1 Comment
04/06/09
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
Film School Rejects

The kind of mumbling, lank-haired, achingly self-conscious indie rom-com that gives mumbling, lank-haired, achingly self-conscious indie rom-coms a bad name.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment 1 Comment
06/19/09
Ali Catterall
Ali Catterall
Channel 4 Film

More like 'bloated.'

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
07/24/09
Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central

For a film that only flirts with the idea of closure it may be best to just keep an open mind and enjoy the company of some fine actors playing funny characters trying to find the same answers that all of us are.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment 1 Comment
04/02/09
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

This gentle romance is so wilfully quirky that it will drive some audiences a bit crazy. But if you can connect to the film's warmth and the humanity of its characters, it really gets under the skin.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment 1 Comment
06/19/09
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

This is some of the worst writing of the year, from the meaningless title down. Oh yeah, and a tramp keeps showing up to beat up Dano throughout. Not quite sure why, but I applaud the effort.

Full Review Source: News of the World | comment 1 Comment
06/19/09
Robbie Collin
Robbie Collin
News of the World

The characters are richly layered and well acted. John Goodman is a standout as Deschanel's dad, a rich blowhard with a sweet candy center.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment 1 Comment
05/22/09
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

On the basis of Gigantic, Matt Aselton can make a fine and original film. This isn't quite it, but it has moments so good, all you wish for is a second draft.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 1 Comment
04/09/09
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An indie comedy that's been kooked to a crisp. Wearing its quirkiness on its sleeve, the whole thing's just too self-consciously strange to engage.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment 1 Comment
06/19/09
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

Not quite this year’s hip little indie romantic comedy that could, as it clearly aspires to be, but smart-ish and drily funny while overly littered with twitches and tweaks.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment 1 Comment
06/19/09
Angie Errigo
Angie Errigo
Empire Magazine

Everything that happens slots neatly into the art house template - wacky leads, wackier supporting players, coy alt-rock soundtrack - but director Matt Aselton doesn't know when to stop.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment 1 Comment
06/19/09
Tim Evans
Tim Evans
Sky Movies

A note to all indie filmmakers (one that will be too late for Matt Aselton, writer (with Adam Nagata) and director of GIGANTIC): quirky is a tone, not a plot.

Full Review Source: CHUD | comment 1 Comment
04/02/09
Devin Faraci
Devin Faraci
CHUD

Gigantic is the sort of kitchen sink movie many first-time directors make, mistakenly believing that they have to throw every idea they've ever come up with into just one film in case they never get a chance to make another.

Full Review Source: Colorado Springs Gazette | comment 1 Comment
05/21/09
Brandon Fibbs
Brandon Fibbs
Colorado Springs Gazette
 
 
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