Movies

Early Buzz: Jason Reitman's Men, Women & Children [TIFF 2014]

Men, Women & Children trailer
By Peter Sciretta

Jason Reitman's latest film Men, Women & Children has screened at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, and we have compiled the tweets coming out of the first Press & Industry screening. Its a mix of mostly positive (18 people) but also negative (10 people), with some critics like Owen Gleiberman and Ed Douglas touting it as a complex return to form while others like Jeff Wells calling it "soulless" and Ben Lyons leaving the screening tweeting that the film made him "very, very angry...". The public premiere happens at the Ryerson theatre tonight, and I expect we'll see a more positive response from the non critic/industry audience.

Many didn't respond to Reitman's last film Labor Day, which I enjoyed – connecting with the coming of age stuff, which was filmed near my hometown and set in the period of my upbringing. But unlike Jason's previous films, Labor Day didn't have a lot to say about us. I'm excited for Men, Women & Children because it looks like its more in line with what I connected to in his previous films. You can read all of the compiled tweets and reviews after the jump.

The Positive:The Hollywood Reporter Review:

"A keen, analytical portrait of the current moment in electronic and interpersonal communications. ... With its cultural antenna at attention and a style as precise and burnished as the latest high-tech instrument, Men, Women & Children will always serve usefully as a snapshot of this moment; illustrative right now, it will likely look quite quaint within a decade."

The Negative:

The Playlist review:

"at first, "Men, Women & Children" does provide an interesting perspective on how communication and our public image, in a broad sense, has massively changed in the last decade or so ... But the film's best moments occur when the story moves away from the pixels to the people. ... Perhaps the strongest scenes occur when the characters interact with each other instead of via mouse clicks, which is kind of the point. ... sadly, Reitman has absolutely nothing new to say here. And when the film flirts with an unconventional idea, it lacks the courage to follow it up. ... It's a shame Reitman goes down such a dull and tired road with his movie, because the cast give some really nice turns. Sandler is pitch perfect in his supporting role"

Variety review:

"a carefully diagrammed thesis movie about The Way We Live Now ... this painfully well-meaning but largely unpersuasive bid for cross-generational understanding feels at once of-the-moment and too obvious by half, like a less overblown version of "Crash" for the information superhighway. Relatability often being a more reliable conversation-starter than quality, the film's universally applicable message, savvy packaging and excellent cast could inspire audiences to log on to the Oct. 17 Paramount release."

Cast: Kaitlyn Dever, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ansel Elgort, Jennifer Garner, Judy Greer, Dean Norris, Adam Sandler

Official Film Synopsis:

MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN follows the story of a group of high school teenagers and their parents as they attempt to navigate the many ways the internet has changed their relationships, their communication, their self-image, and their love lives. The film attempts to stare down social issues such as video game culture, anorexia, infidelity, fame hunting, and the proliferation of illicit material on the internet. As each character and each relationship is tested, we are shown the variety of roads people choose – some tragic, some hopeful – as it becomes clear that no one is immune to this enormous social change that has come through our phones, our tablets, and our computers.

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