INFINITELY POLAR BEAR

Mark Ruffalo’s performance as bi-polar, Boston Brahmin, Cameron Stuart is “infinitely” sublime, magnetic, riveting; sabotages one’s sensitivities; long after the conclusion, credits expunged, still stunning, haunting.  His every motion, word resonates with the anguish and glory of a filter- less mind:  his children rile at his inept parenting skills, incompetent housekeeping; his beleaguered wife tolerates his mood swings, inimitable love; frustrations of a brilliant, incapable man, trying to cope with “normalcy” after a nervous breakdown. Director Maya Forbes scores huge in her first feature film.

Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky and Ashley Aufderheide as Cam’s wife and daughters complement Ruffalo’s dynamic depiction; the girls especially, imbue their roles with the appropriate dose of embarrassment, exasperation, anger, coping with their different Dad; yet realistically accept his affliction, and love him unconditionally. The most formidable scenes in the film revolve around their interactions, role reversals; sensationalism, sentimentalism,  ardently avoided.

At times squishy, soft around the edges, ginger in touching the depth of the destructive, depressive stages; a magnificent bar/drinking/dancing/smoking scene, pummels, pulsates with ultimate verisimilitude, the manic phase.

Mark Ruffalo’s celestial, rare portrayal of a challenged psyche is the finest to bless the screen in 2015!

FOUR STARS!!!!

Peneflix