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Side Effects (2013)
choose your side
which side would you pick?
the side of the character treated with drugs who cannot escape from this society, the society itself being a drug-addict.
or the side of the psychiatrist who decided to work in America because here people think that if they go to psychiatrist they are saved, unlike people from uk who think that a visit to psychiatrist can only transform into a worsen state of mind.
side effects is a film about America and its society which must choose which side they are on. ultimately, the effects will come, and these can mean a revolution or a regression.
This Is 40 (2012)
A film full of tension
Conflict arises in every moment of the story, provoking the viewer to wonder if the couple will ever find peace until the end of the film. This provocation also comes from the fact that the film is really long (or gives the impression that is long) and this longevity must lead to something, an ultimate moment of peace, not an unlimited chain of conflicts. But from where do this conflicts arise?
Firstly, the film starts with a sex scene in the shower, but it transforms quickly into a drama. Debbie, the wife, is sad that her husband takes Viagra, and she thinks that this happen because they she is not sexy anymore. Throughout the film she tries to improve her physical condition and to attract her husband again. She even lets herself seduced by other man because she wants improve her self-image. Paul, her husband, doesn't really understand what Debbie wants and he is treating everything with a specific manly attitude, more close to ignorance. Even so, he does his best to keep the relation with Debbie working, taking her to a hotel, away from their problems, financially issues and dynamic children. He is a family man and even in the hardest condition, he tries to support his dad who is asking again and again for money. Until now it looks like the conflicts in this film arise from the middle-life crisis and especially Debbie's inability to get used to her age.
Secondly, the financially problems of the couple seem to create a psychological tension to the couple. They cannot permit the house in which they are living, they cannot permit the cars they are driving, they cannot permit to have a moment of peace without the interference of money. Pete cannot find a good rock band that is bought because it seems that the world changed faster than he could change his taste in music. The world now listens to Lady Gaga, or other pop artists, and he is still attached to his 80s rock bands. For this reason he cannot make money and lead an unworried life. Debbie also has financial problems at her firm, confronting with big robbery from one of her employee. Even so, it seems that Pete worries more about money than Debbie, but he is so focused to find solutions to his problem that he tend to neglect Debbie, which drives her mad.
Thirdly, the screams and the fights of the children are putting too much pressure on their parents. Pete and Debbie desperately try to find some time for them, but when they do so, the kids interfere. There is no more time for a blow job in the morning because the girls need to go to school and the meaning of home is "taking care of kids". Moreover, the parents don't know how to deal with their adolescent Sadie which is dependent on Lost, social networking and a guy who secretly loves her. Furthermore, the baby that is announced to come can bring, behind happiness, unpleasant experiences to the already stressed parents.
Fourthly, Pete and Debbie seem to put the source of their conflicts on their parents. Pete's father always ask for money and Debbie's dad is not active in her daughter's life, having his problems as well. Even of Pete's father seems to keep his financial condition, Debbie's dad tries to know her daughter and enter in her family. Debbie's father has a financial condition and parental support that can bring only good things into the life of Pete and Debbie and this is the only view that gives to This is 40 a happy ending where conflicts need to end.
This is 40 is film about conflicts which rise from middle-life crisis, financially problems, too dynamic children or misunderstood fathers and this makes it an interesting film, but full of tension for every viewer.