Thanks for Sharing: Movie Review
Academy Award nominated screenwiter Stuart Blumberg has written a handful of enjoyable comedies (The Kids are All Right, The Girl Next Door, Keeping the Faith). He is back once again, pulling double-duty as writer/director on “Thanks for Sharing”(Co-written by Matt Winston). What makes this film work so well is that it is essentially a romantic-comedy, but balances the dramatic issues within it with a great deal of respect, which helps give a film about living life with a sex-addiction a whole lot of heart. Having a cast that includes Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Gad, Joely Richardson, Patrick Fugit, and singer Pink helps make it just that much better.
“Thanks for Sharing” takes you though the lives of three characters who all have one thing in common. They are members of the same sex addiction support group. Adam (Ruffalo) is a successful environmental consultant who has been sexually sober for 5 years. He lives without a TV or a home computer or even a smart-phone. That way he isn’t tempted by sexual distractions. Just walking down the street in New York City with the excessive sex-selling advertisements and the random beautiful women he passes by is a struggle for him.
Hesitant to get back to dating, Adam winds up meeting Phoebe (Paltrow) at a dinner party. They hit is off and Adam decides to give it a shot by going on a date with her.
Mike (Robbins) is a small-business owner who is married to his teenage sweetheart Katie (Richardson) for 20+ years. Like Adam, he struggles with his sex addiction as well. Things get a bit more frustrating for Mike when his son Danny (Fugit) shows up at the house one night after being gone for years. Danny has his own addiction problem, though his is with drugs.
Finally we have Neil (Gad), a doctor who is in the support group due to a court order and he is completely out of control. He can’t take the subway without standing behind a woman and rubbing himself up against her. Danny is in denial about his issue. It isn’t until he hits rock bottom and befriends fellow addict Dede (Pink) before he begins to take his disease seriously.
“Thanks for Sharing” is filled with great writing, but it is the A+ cast that really sells it. Especially Gad. It is not easy to feel sympathetic for someone who does such disgusting things due to his sickness, but Gad allows us to feel Neil’s pain.
“Thanks for Sharing” is being promoted as a comedy, but it is just as much a drama and one seriously worth checking out.
By: Marc Ferman