Gigantic (2008)
Tomatometer
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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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Reviews for Gigantic
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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More like 'bloated.' Full Review |
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This determinedly nonsensical American indie feels like it was assembled in an off-world quirk factory. Full Review |
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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 |
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‘Gigantic’ is a film that succeeds by wearing the viewer down, as an infuriatingly coy, self-conscious first act gives way to a sweet and affecting climax. Full Review |
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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 |
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It’s slyly misogynistic, dramatically inert, and wastes an intriguing boorish cameo from John Goodman. Full Review |
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This film is entirely empty: empty of substance, devoid of plausible characters, and without anything like a satisfying style. Full Review |
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Here the characters drive everything – they’re quirky without being annoying, funny without being clownish and odd but realistic. As funny and interesting as it is, however, the film raises more question than it answers. Full Review |
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It's very hard not to get sucked in to the charm of this movie. Dano and Deschanel play their parts to perfection, exuding just the right amount of awkwardness and insecurity to bring the story to life. Full Review |
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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 |
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Taking his cue from his leading man’s minimalist, self-effacing performance, director and co-writer Matt Aselton has fashioned a wry homage to eccentricity. Full Review |
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Yet there’s an echo of Hal Ashby, or even Hal Hartley, in the subversion of easy truisms about relationships, and its primary note - mild anxiety - may make it a cult favourite. Full Review |
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By the end, I was thoroughly alienated by the movie's twee, self-satisfied empty-headedness and rooting for the homeless man to do his worst. Full Review |
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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 |
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Gigantic tries so hard to be cute and quirky it forgets it should also try to be interesting. Full Review |
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Don't hope for anything profound among the smug coolness. Full Review |
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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 |
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It's kooky, it's quirky, it's dippy, it's trippy, it's loopy, it's screwy – it's indie, and boy, it's annoying. Full Review |
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A likable cast brings some charm and humour to Gigantic but it remains an overly mannered, self-conscious effort. Full Review |
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Likeable indie romance, thanks to strong performances and some nice ideas, though it's often a little too quirky for its own good and is almost derailed by a spectacularly misguided subplot. Full Review |
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