Men, Women & Children (film)

Men, Women & Children

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jason Reitman
Produced by Jason Reitman
Helen Estabrook
Jason Blumenfeld
Michael Beugg
Mason Novick
Screenplay by Jason Reitman
Erin Cressida Wilson
Based on Men, Women & Children 
by Chad Kultgen
Starring Rosemarie DeWitt
Jennifer Garner
Judy Greer
Dean Norris
Adam Sandler
Ansel Elgort
Kaitlyn Dever
Narrated by Emma Thompson
Music by Bibio
Cinematography Eric Steelberg
Edited by Dana E. Glauberman
Production
company
Right of Way Films
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
  • September 6, 2014 (2014-09-06) (TIFF)
  • United States (United States)
Running time
 119 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $16 million[2]
Box office $2.2 million[3]

Men, Women & Children is a 2014 American ensemble comedy-drama film dealing with online addiction. It is directed by Jason Reitman, co-written with Erin Cressida Wilson, based on a novel of the same name written by Chad Kultgen, and starring Rosemarie DeWitt, Jennifer Garner, Judy Greer, Dean Norris, Adam Sandler, Ansel Elgort, and Kaitlyn Dever.

Plot

Don and Helen Truby are a sexually unsatisfied married couple. Helen seeks an extra-marital affair through the website Ashley Madison, while Don finds an escort service. Both Don and Helen continue their extra-marital liaisons until Don discovers Helen's Ashley Madison profile and confronts her when she returns home. She tries to speak with him and he cuts her off stating that he too has cheated. Don and Helen have a teenage son. He has been viewing pornographic material online since the age of 10. His preferences have gotten more extreme, to the point that he is unable to become aroused by pornographic material that would be considered “normal” by societal standards.

Tim Mooney is a high school football star who has quit the team in the wake of his parents’ divorce and his mother's abandonment of them. Tim now spends most of his time playing an MMORPG. He has also come to believe, referencing Carl Sagan's reflections about the Pale Blue Dot, that human life is insignificant in context of the universe. Tim's father, Kent, meanwhile, starts a relationship with Joan Clint, mother of Tim's classmate, Hannah.

Hannah wants to be famous and has a website maintained by her mother, Joan. She takes inappropriate pictures of her daughter for subscribers who request private photo sessions and because of this the producers do not select Hannah for the show. When Joan tells Kent of the site and the private session pictures, he breaks up with her.

When he returns home, Kent checks Tim’s computer and finds some lewd comments about Tim's mother in his chat history. Kent confronts Tim about this, cancels the game account, and demands Tim rejoin the team next year.

Brandy Beltmeyer's online activity is monitored by her over-protective mother, Patricia. Tim and Brandy start a relationship, which is hindered early on as Patricia sees Tim’s incoming texts to Brandy and deletes them. Tim and Brandy do however become a couple, keeping in touch through Brandy's hidden Tumblr account. While doing her regular checking of Brandy’s social media communications, Patricia discovers Brandy's conversations with Tim and promptly steals all of Brandy's internet privileges. Tim, distraught over his canceled game account, reaches out and texts Brandy for support. Patricia, using Brandy's phone, intercepts his messages, and responds as her daughter, with messages telling Tim she is bored of him and that she will block his number if he texts her again. Tim, despondent, overdoses on antidepressants. Brandy rushes over to his house, where she and Kent find him passed out on the floor. They rush him to the hospital and he is stabilized. Patricia finds Brandy and bursts into tears, realizing her actions nearly caused Tim's death. She goes home and disconnects the device she used to track Brandy's text messages. Kent realizes the pressure he has put on Tim and how tough it is to be a parent, and reconnects with Joan.

Cast

Production

By September 4, 2013, Jason Reitman had cast Adam Sandler, Rosemarie DeWitt and Jennifer Garner in the lead roles.[5] By December 16, Emma Thompson, Judy Greer and Dean Norris were cast.[4] The young cast includes Ansel Elgort, Kaitlyn Dever, Elena Kampouris, Travis Tope, Katherine Hughes, Olivia Crocicchia, and Timothée Chalamet.[6] Other stars are David Denman, Jason Douglas, Dennis Haysbert, Shane Lynch, and J. K. Simmons.[7] Will Peltz also joined the cast, on December 17.[8] Principal photography began on December 16, 2013 in and around Austin, Texas.[6][7]

Reception

The film was a critical and commercial flop.[2]

Box office

Men, Women & Children premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2014.[9] The film opened in limited release on October 1, 2014 in 17 theaters and grossed $48,024 with an average of $2,825 per theater and ranking #48 at the box office. In its wide release on October 17 in 608 theaters the film grossed $306,367 with an average of $504 per theater and ranking #23, making it the fifth lowest opening in a release of 600 theaters or more.[2] The film ultimately earned $705,908 in the United States and $1,534,627 internationally for a total of $2,240,535 worldwide, well below its $16 million production budget.[3]

Critical response

Men, Women & Children received mixed to negative reviews from critics. The film has a "rotten" score of 31% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 126 reviews with an average rating of 4.8 out of 10. The critical consensus states: "Men, Women & Children is timely, but director Jason Reitman's overbearing approach to its themes blunts the movie's impact."[10] The film also has a score of 38 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 36 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[11] Film critic Robbie Collin felt Men, Women & Children "played like a spoof" with others agreeing the film was "mawkish and clichéd".[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Men, Women & Children (15)". British Board of Film Classification. September 19, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Jason Reitman's 'Men, Women and Children' Takes Box-Office Bellyflop - TheWrap". TheWrap. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Men, Women & Children (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ford, Rebecca (December 16, 2013). "Jason Reitman's 'Men, Women & Children' Adds Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, Dean Norris". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Toronto: Jason Reitman Lining Up His Next Film". The Hollywood Reporter. September 4, 2013. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  6. 1 2 Billington, Alex (December 16, 2013). "Jason Reitman's Next Film 'Men, Women & Children' Begins Shooting". FirstShowing.net. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Production Begins on Jason Reitman's Men, Women & Children" (Press release). Paramount Pictures via ComingSoon.net. December 16, 2013. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  8. ↑ Kroll, Justin (December 17, 2013). "Will Peltz Joins Cast of Jason Reitman’s ‘Men, Women & Children’". Variety. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Early Buzz: Jason Reitman's Men, Women & Children [TIFF 2014] - /Film". Slashfilm. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Men, Women & Children". Rotten Tomatoes (Flixster). Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Men, Women & Children". Metacritic (CBS Interactive). Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  12. ↑ Collin, Robbie (December 5, 2014). "Men, Women & Children, review: 'plays like a spoof'". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved December 29, 2014.

External links

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