I assume his issue was his not wanting the responsibility of raising a child/having a wife & job. Any other thoughts?
And the ending - does it mean he went home and life continued as usual, with the plan of living with parents forever crossed off the list? Any thoughts?
Character development in this movie was poor. We never really understood why this man-child was so emotionally stunted.
shareMust we be spoon fed the reasons?
shareNo, but we must be given some kind of motivation in order to empathize. Without even a scrap of a hint, the audience has a hard time caring about a total bastard abandoning his family and acting like a big baby. Go home and help your wife take care of your kid, jerk!
shareThumbs down, people. "Storm" is right. Y'all just wanna be spoon fed. There's plenty of scenes with Mikey going through his old belongings and toys, meeting up with people from his past, etc.
It's clear that he's either A- yearning for the easier ways of being young and with your parents, or B- confused and lost, not sure what to do, returning home for answers, expecting them to come easy but ends up being defeated
Now there's arguments for both sides. It's all there. I think we all, or at least most of us, have wished at some point that we could have the innocence of our youth. The lack of responsibility, the non-existence of bills. The "Go home and help your wife take care of your kid, jerk" is bull crap - art doesn't and should create perfect characters that do everything right. It's impossible! There are two sides to everything. No, I don't think what he did is good or right, but I can understand it - and yes, it's easy for any of us to sit on our couch and judge this character, saying "it's obvious to us: Go back home and be responsible!" - but it's either not obvious to him, or he can't bring himself to actually go back to being an adult. Refer to the scene of him trying to leave the apartment and go down the stairs - he can't. Later on, when he actually does, he tosses himself down the stairs!
It's natural to feel so empty and depressed that you're not sure what to do, and things that are actually "right" don't feel right. If all you care about is liking a character, then go outside and make friends. You don't need friends in movies or books.
Great points. I wonder how these people explain what is going on with the millions of people who are too depressed to get out of bed. I suppose they subscribe to the Bob Newhart "Just stop it!" school of psychotherapy, where you just "buck up" and "snap out of it". 😛
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In my opinion this whole movie was sad and hard to watch. I usually open my mind to all movies but with this one, the doors in my mind kept closing. I tried hard to watch this. I guess this guy comes home to visit his mom and dad then loses his senses. Obviously he is unstable and a momma's boy. I agree there are scenes that are extremely cringe worthy. As mentioned earlier, the buying beer for minors scene is dreadful to watch. But when the grown guy sits on his momma's lap and breaks down...wow! I had to shut the dvd player off then. This movie was not for me to understand and not worth the time to try and figure it out. I can't recommend anyone to watch this movie. You must have better things to do.
shareHis issue was depression. Right from the start he seemed to be clinically depressed.
I am not sure about the ending, either! My best guess is that he went home to face up to his problems--but I'm not convinced one way or the other that he understands the extent of his problems. I would have liked it if the ending had made it more clear. Was this a turning point for him, or was it just a snapshot, showing us a slice of life that represents a continuing pattern of behavior that will continue his who life through?