Dear Pillow
I received this one after the Filmcouch Spout Podcast episode about it. Sorry to Paul for never writing or commenting much about it after I saw it. I certainly meant to, but sometimes my motivation fails and then falls by the wayside.
I think I understand what each person was saying on that podcast. The movie brings to light the concern that parents' hesitation to speak with their children about sex or a lot of emotional issues for that matter is a big problem. Not that a better solution is necessarily for a young person to start getting advice from someone like Dusty or Lorna.
There were elements in this movie that were at times almost simultaneously more and less realistic than most movies. There is something real about the way that Wes is so hesitant to formulate any concrete ideas. He both can't say what he's thinking, and also usually doesn't even really know what he's thinking. I've felt like that quite often, and I've seen many other people like that too (or maybe this is just something prevalent in my own family). However when a lot of the ideas do come out, they just feel totally fake. Or maybe they just don't make an interesting movie. Sometimes the way people really talk is amusing to see for a while, but I prefer a movie where people almost speak at some kind of heightened and self-aware theatrical level. I suppose it's all about context as usual.
In the end what makes this movie so mediocre for me is just lack of sympathy for anyone or anything.
Rating: 5/10