Film: Gigantic
Starring: Paul Dano, Zooey Deschanel, John Goodman
Released: 2008
Director: Matt Aselton
Writers: Adam Nagata, Matt Aselton
On the recommendation of a very nice salesman at my local HMV, I rented the film ‘Gigantic’ using my LOVEFiLM account. He made the suggestion whilst ringing through my DVD’s which happened to include one of my favourite films ‘(500) Days of Summer’ – I was actually re-buying it, as my other copy had a huge scratch on it. The salesman mentioned that he thought that Zooey Deschanel’s character, Summer, was a complete bitch and that she made him hate women for a while, because had watched the film a little while after he and his girlfriend had split up. He then asked me if I knew about ‘She & Him’, which is Deschanel’s band (check them out, they’re awesome), which I did. He then recommended that I watch ‘Gigantic’. I’m very glad I did.
The film stars Paul Dano as a single twenty-eight year old mattress salesman by the name of Brian Weathersby. Brian is in the process of adopting a baby from China. It is something that he has wanted since he was very young, but we aren’t given an obvious explanation as to why this is. One day at work, Brian meets Harriet ‘Happy’ Lolly (Deschanel), an eccentric of sorts, the type of girl who would rather read the ads than the articles. Needless to say, Brian’s life changes the moment he sets eyes on Happy, which is to say for the better as much as the worse, as Happy, easy-going as she may seem, comes with her own baggage.
Dano is subtle and understated in his role, which gives the effect of his character being the only relatively un-kooky individual in a world apparently chock full of quirky characters, which plays in favour of our surprise when we learn that Brian wants to adopt at a young age, alone, and with little money. Deschanel, who we know for her ‘indie’ character-driven film roles, obviously flourishes. She plays Happy as delightfully odd, without overshooting into annoying, with great depth and understanding. John Goodman is utterly hilarious and steals every scene he is in as Al Lolly, Happy’s father, a man in possession of way too much money. Also, check out Zach Galifianakis in an important, yet uncredited role as a particularly violent homeless man who has it in for Brian.
In the ‘indie’ spirit, a lot of the film is left open to interpretation, which may frustrate some viewers and greatly please others. I happen to be one of the latter. I like the fact that not everything is explained, like how we don’t know what events may have transpired between Happy’s mother and father, which have evidently affected Happy in the long run, we just know that they did happen. We don’t know what Al Lolly is trying to gain through spending his seemingly endless amounts of cash, but we are implicitly aware that what he is after, whether he is aware of it or not, cannot be bought.
I thoroughly recommend ‘Gigantic’ as something a little different, a film that won’t spoon-feed you and then pat you on the back afterwards. If you like your characters flawed, yet likable and spurting memorable one-liners then watch this film. You won’t regret it.
Rating: 4/5
