Gigantic – Review

Art is something that gets lost in the details when it comes to modern filmmaking.  Most filmmakers today aren’t worried about movements, exploration, self expression.  They worry about the bottom line, about how much farther up the career ladder each film will take them.  With Gigantic, Matt Aselton not only made a film that can stand as a work of art, he cares about exploring ideas as well.   

Paul Dano plays Brian Weathesby, a mattress salesman that wants nothing more than to adopt a Chinese baby.  He has wanted this since adolescence and is on the the adoption waiting list.  It’s all he thinks about, that is until he meets Harriet “Happy” Lolly (Zooey Deschanel) after her father purchases a $14,000 bed from him.  After meeting her he slowly starts to weave her into his on awkward existence.  Which includes imagining a homeless man (Zach Galifianakis) kicking his ass on a regular basis.  

Dano provides a brilliantly somber tone to Brian’s odd behavior, and this brilliance is matched by the wonderful Zooey Deschanel.  Zooey was a perfect choice to accent Dano’s melancholy.  And John Goodman shines as Happy’s father Al Lolly.  I haven’t enjoyed watching him this much in a long time.  These characters are human.  They live and breathe just like real people, only unlike real people they don’t hide their idiosyncrasies.  They live in a world where people make mistakes and their choices don’t always make sense.  A fascinating world that was built using a soothing color palette.  

I’m going to commend director Matt Aselton for making such a brave film.  I really enjoyed Gigantic and am looking forward to Mr. Aselton’s next flick, because Gigantic was positively a killer film.

Rating: