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i had high hopes for gigantic a film starring zooey deschanel and paul dano. both of whom i have come to really enjoy as actors as of late. but sadly, this film was, well, pointless. maybe i should have better questioned why i never really noticed it come thru the theatres or heard anything much about it. but it had a great cast so i rented it. i found myself asking aloud during much of the film "what is going on" "i have no clue what's happening" "i don't understand". then when something just seems so confusing i wonder if maybe i'm just stupid and it's too deep for me. with this little gem, i'm pretty sure it was just completely ridiculous. i really hate to hate a film. i put myself in the shoes of the writer, or the director, or even the producer who must have believed in it somewhere along the way. and i think that i hope no matter what someone can find something redeeming in the things i create. so maybe it's the utter strange and bizarre nature of the film that makes it somewhat enjoyable. maybe you can turn it into some sort of drinking game? not sure. but i do love zooey deschanel. maybe my time would be better spent writing about 500 days of summer. which i loved. but it has been too long since i've seen it. will have to get to that later.

anyway. gigantic is about essentially relationships. strange families. strange romances. with an additional element of insanity in the form of an illusion, possibly?

paul dano plays brian. a 28 year old who works at a mattress store. comes from a fairly wealthy family with strange rituals. and has a life-long dream of adopting a baby from china.
in said mattress store brian meets al lolly played by john goodman who comes in to buy a mattress. al sends his daughter happy (zooey deschanel) to the store to pay for the mattress. this sort of marks the beginnings of a relationship with brian and happy. happy also comes from a strange family. her father is very eccentric and happy herself is a little spacey and abrupt.

what ensues is an odd relationship with two people who have strange families and are strange for it. there isn't much substance here. a few funny lines here and there and many awkward moments. edward asner and jane alexander play brian's parents. but this cast really can't make up for the fact that this film is just a string of random events and interactions that have little meaning. you don't really feel any attachment to these characters. and when the credits roll, you like me, will probably be scratching your head wondering if the split second when you looked away possibly held the answer to this film.

the films trailer was in the special features section on the dvd. upon viewing it i found it summed up the entire film in less than a minute. minus one of the strangest parts, which you'll just have to see to understand. it really paints it to be something great, and really i wish it were. sadly, i'd say if you're gonna rent it, get it from redbox so at least you'll only spend a $1 wasting your evening.