Did people rate this badly because...

I thought it was great. It reminded me a lot of 'Henry Poole is Here'. That's another movie where I was surprised by the dramatic acting skills of another actor we usually see in comedies (Luke Wilson).

I rated it a 5.0 out of 10. It seemed to scripted, there were no surprises, nothing you havent seen in 1000 movies before, predictable ending. I was disappointed for a number of reasons.

It was a sad movie with funny parts. Like ABOUT SCHMIDT it took elements of sadness in the lives of people.

I am a fan, no a worshiper of Raymond Carver, upon whose works this movie was based. I had just seen "Short Cuts" by Robert Altman and been bitterly disappointed in his take on Carver's work. This movie surprised me, Ferrell was great and while it differed greatly from Carver's story "You Should Dance." It had the same feel as Carver's work and I think the man himself would have approved. Go find Carver's book called "Beginners." and see for yourself. Raymond Carver was special.
Paul

That's probably about right. It was easy to tell early on that this movie dealt with serious issues and they were well portrayed by the acting and the script. Some of it was funny at first, I had to laugh when he had to leave the knife in the tire, but it obviously wasn't a funny situation overall.

I watched half of the movie last night before I had to go do something else. The comedy has a subtle flavor and has more to do with his unfortunate situation than things the character says / does.

So far I'm enjoying it, and Will Ferrell seems to be doing a great job playing a dramatic role.

This is well worth watching. Will Ferrell gives a sensitive, restrained performance, and the film develops at a natural pace with no easy answers. On the other hand, I think it could have been a bit darker and probed the character's torment a bit more deeply. Regardless, it's worth a watch, whether or not you're a Will Ferrell fan. But it would probably appeal only to his fans with open minds. 7/10 stars from me.

I just finished watching this on Netflix and I liked it. I gave it an 8. It was simple and heartfelt albeit a little depressing. Ferrell played the role more good-humored than actually funny. I chuckled a few times here and there, but there were no scenes where I was dying with laughter like I did with Anchorman. I would say that if you enjoy shows like Friday Night Lights or Parenthood, you will probably enjoy this movie.

A possible reason for the low rating could be the ending. It wasn't tied up in a neat little bow. You have a general feeling of where everything is headed, but you don't get any definite answers.