Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Gigantic (2008)

Director: Matt Aselton

Time Out rating

Average user rating

2 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

If you find that the romantic woes of artsy, middle-class white kids are beginning to lose their lustre, it’s probably best to avoid ‘Gigantic’, a film so quirkily self-aware it might as well have ‘Property of Sundance Film Festival’ stencilled on to every frame. It’s not that writer-director Matt Aselton’s film lacks charm or insight. It’s just that the issues which preoccupy him – urban ennui, guilty lust, impossible love, shambolic indie rock – also fascinate just about every other white American twentysomething with a camera.

Paul Dano is agreeably awkward as directionless bed salesman Brian Weathersby, whose plan to adopt a Chinese orphan is put on hold when he meets Zooey Deschanel’s sexually aggressive Happy, while John Goodman amply fills the big-name-in-flashy- -character-role requirement as her overbearing father. ‘Gigantic’ is a film that succeeds by wearing the viewer down, as an infuriatingly coy, self-conscious first act gives way to a sweet and affecting climax. So while Aselton has nothing new to offer, he still manages to raise the occasional sympathetic smile.

Author: Tom Huddleston

Time Out London issue 2026, June 18 - 24, 2008

Email Tweet Share

User reviews of this film

Phil said...

Posted on Mar 07 2011 11:06 Avoid at all costs. Unfathomable plot and many questions unanswered. if anyone can work this one out, post it here! Only mildly bearable because of the delightful Zooey Deschanel.

Report as inappropriate
Ian Elgie said...

Posted on Dec 11 2009 21:57 the most unsatisfying film I've seen in ages. Plot non-existent; dialogue forced, juvenile comedy. I could go on but the film is not worth further time on further comments.

Report as inappropriate