The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

Manson tries to convey to us practical wisdom from his life and the modern era that is controversial and confusing.

His narrative is one of first world drama where he discovers himself. It's okay, but not very well thought out or scientifically backed. I think one would do much better watching an Alain de Botton TED Talk.

True some ideas are better placed in a motion picture narrative. Here the Director has used a mixture of 1980s BBC clips and B-grade acting scenes. It just hasn't cut the mustard for this critical reviewer.

For a better experience I'd suggest 'Ravi Patel's Pursuit of Happiness' (2020)

I've been a big fan of Mark since he first started putting out his email which feels like over ten years ago?

I REALLY liked the book, and still think it is excellent.

This however was not so good.

It didn't feel right, didn't flow, wasn't especially interesting, I'm not sure how they got it so wrong to be honest?

I turned it off before the end, as it was borderline painful to watch at times.

It didn't feel like Mark's work, so I can only assume he didn't have that much input or get final approval?

I'd recommend spending your time with the audio book rather than watching this, you will get a LOT more out of it.

I didn't want to give this a bad review.

In 2019, I was going through one of the hardest times in my life and reading The Subtle Art was one of the few things that really helped me come to terms and .

I will say that the film does do well to carry all of the witty cynicisms over from the book,. And I can hand pick a few a new additions I did enjoy that do stop this from going lower than a 3/10.

That said, without enough focus on the reasons and purposes for us hearing these anecdotes, it just becomes a disorganised mess that, if you've not read the book, just sounds like someone saying "you're not special" without the "but that's okay" to follow it up with.

The 'self help' part of this 'counter intuitive self help documentary' was heavily glossed over and massively lost a lot of the appeal that caused the books warranted success. Maybe it's just that the genre doesn't translate successfully into this media, but overall, very disappointed.

My advise to anyone reading this review; pop on the audiobook and watch a 10 hour YouTube video of cats or something. You'll have a much better experience,

It won't take you long to wonder why you're watching this.

I've listened to some of the audiobook and it didn't feel this meandering or pointless.

Unlike superior theses like The Happiness Advantage which includes examples, anecdotes, psyche research and conclusions, this "film" is just a series of pointless anecdotes told by some random bloke in a chair.

If I was with this guy at a party, I'd find an excuse to walk away from him. His anecdotes-whether personal to him or gleaned from somewhere else-have no conclusions.

If the overall message to this thing is that "life isn't perfect, make the most of what you've got", then it was pretty much summed up at the beginning.

I thought this would be an interesting watch. It wasn't.

A drawn out monologue that fails to engage with anything philosophical, responding only to anecdotes.

It's odd that this philosophy only works with numerical identifiers of success. There is no sense of inner fulfilment, no enjoyment from the attempt of trying something new. You can only be good or bad at something.

It's both critical of late stage capitalism and completely complicit. Perhaps justifying flogging these books.

Mark Manson loves the use of binary, there is little to no room for nuance & balance. Promoting a circular philosophy that can only lead to self-pity & loathing.

I'd offer this binary: watch this or speak to someone outside a club at 3am.