After the Reality

The trailer cherry picks "deliciously pitch-perfect" when that quote applies only to the reenactments of YOUNG BUCKS, the Bachelorette-style reality TV show. Frankly, they were pushing the age of the male suitors. Top billed Matthew Morrison is 38 and his face looks every bit of it.

Less successful is the family drama that isn't very interesting and reeks of "prodigal son" shtick. Morrison isn't very spontaneous and doesn't really create and inhabit characters. He brings his set repertoire to the role and takes on the character's name. That's it.

The script suffers from absence of subtlety. EVERYTHING the characters are thinking comes out of their mouths. The expository dialogue reveals that the writer/director doesn't trust the audience to perceive anything. Thus we end up with emotions by braille.

This would do better on Lifetime TV than the big screen.

I spent a lot of time fast forwarding during this because some parts were just flat and I was expecting something more. Maybe I was expecting a bit more depth from the other characters (the only one who seemed to have it was Kate) and I wanted to see the connection between the reality show and actual reality a bit more clearly. It's as if the movie needed about 10 more minutes for us to have an ah-ha moment. It really just fell flat for me.

I think 20 -30 minutes more would have really made this an even stronger movie, giving more background, character development and helping round out the end of the show with a little more clear resolution, as it felt like some pieces were missing. But if was still really good and got me in the gut with regard to grief, broken relationships, and how to move on from our past toward something better. I felt it was really authentic and honest. I really enjoyed it. Some of the scenes were really grounded and felt very real, leaving the viewer time to really feel the emotion of the characters as they tried to find a way forward.

I am a fan of the two leads of this movie and this seemed like an easy film after I put the kids down to sleep, so a no-brainer....I am so genuinely surprised to be thinking about it days later.It struck a chord with me. It made me really think about real reality and the reality that I am hooked on (embarrassingly). It made me consider parenting and the sibling relationship, it made me think about why we choose our partners and what tools we have available to us in our "emotional" tool belt-sounds heavy but then there are hysterical parts. I really enjoyed it!

I've lost some dear friends and family and have never seen a film about grief that captures the reality of it like AFTER THE REALITY... oh... And it's an uplifting film! I laughed and cried. The Young Bucks (the reality show contestants) are so spot on funny and real to those shows. Sarah Chalke delivers a performance of a lifetime and Matthew Morrison is right there with her. I just wish there was little more Jane Lynch. She and Matthew are such a fun on screen duo. Some people might not get the shifting realities but it's a complicated emotional film Definitely gong to watch again.