Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

jpschapira Independent American Cinema. I always end up writing introductory paragraphs for this complex term. I think I know how it goes, and a lot of people do. The thing is, that when you encounter a film like "Dedication", you find yourself decomposing the terminology again. Of course it's not a necessary thing to do, but it's interesting. Justin Theroux directed the film, his first and only one still. Judging from his background we can say that he understands and respects independent productions, therefore I don't think his film is in any sense a mockery or a reinvention of the notion. I remember the introduction of Tamara Jenkins' "The Savages"; it was a joke, but a sort of internal one...Her film was proudly independent.Well, "Dedication" is also proud of being independent. It's obviously done with a low budget, it's filmed in real locations, it contains screwed up characters, a lot of intelligent (or apparently intelligent) lines, music and soundtrack that comes from nowhere and a generally depressive mood that tends to define a big part of these productions. But, above all, and this is not something we see in every indie picture, "Dedication" is weird. I don't precisely mean this in a general way. You see, firstly, it's a romantic comedy. Neither clearly romantic, nor instantly funny, it encounters two characters in desperate situations. Writer Henry Roth (Billy Crudup) has just lost his best friend and illustrator Rudy (a pleasant Tom Wilkinson) and is forced, because of legal issues, to finish his next children's book along Lucy Reilly (Mandy Moore), a young girl who landed a drawing job. Besides the unclear presence or existence of the company he works for and the strange nature of his boss (Bob Balaban), Henry is a man with a lot of complexes. In a vibrant scene (one of the few in a slow movie), he tells Lucy all of his virtues and defects, or something like it. Billy Crudup portrays the character... Weird. Later on, Lucy encounters her mother (Dianne Wiest), a manic individual with changing personality, and after they discuss their life situation and, when a bit later, we see Henry talking to his dead friend, we understand both characters have serious issues.But this is not the kind of story in which two souls with no way to go in life find each other and fall in love. Screenwriter David Bromberg and first time director Theroux know better. The characters have met in peculiar circumstances and those circumstances will remain. The 'get to know' process between Henry and Lucy is not what we see in a usual romantic comedy, but wait... I'm not trying to say "Dedication" isn't your typical romantic comedy; in fact, I'm not sure if I even consider it a romantic comedy. I think, as I stated before, that the film is weird. However, the problem is that, as if "indie" and "weird" were meant for each other, Theroux's movie is proudly weird.OK. The good thing about this is that, by being weird, the film is disinterested, and it grows more disinterested by the minute. This ends up in unconnected moments and actions without explanation performed by the characters. They are cold to each other but soon they begin to find love; they meet other characters that make the viewer think of structures of the usual romantic comedy and soon these characters fade away. They don't disappear, but they don't seem to fit entirely in the mood of a film that would have no notion of time if it weren't for a deadline to finish the book. The characters go from one extreme to another and are not completely faithful to their personalities, but somehow it feels right. I don't know if I make myself clear; this is a film you have to watch. On the downside, some shots and resources are too forced and repetitive, some editing effects don't fit and some musical choices are just too much. This last part is a personal opinion about a personal search of a director in his first film, something I always respect.I believe the film only cares about Henry, but Theroux –an actor- gives too much freedom to a Billy Crudup who delivers a performance that's not entirely convincing. On the other hand, it's to Mandy Moore's credit that we sympathize with her character. Lucy is her weirdest and most ordinary creation (yes, it's weird because it's ordinary), and she makes for the kind of girl a troubled individual would fall for, kind of what occurred with Anna Paquin's role in another indie called "Blue State"; directed by Marshall Lewy, also a first film and with a lot of similarities to "Dedication". Then again, what's wrong here is that the sort of crusade Henry does for love, in the typical romantic comedy fashion, is something he could do for any other girl. The movie presents Lucy as "the one", but the truth is that someone like Henry could find lots of Lucys (not a thousand, we might say, but a few more in the life he's got left). In this particular aspect (and in the rest of particularities you might find in the movie), I'm not praising "Dedication" for sidestepping –or at least fooling, because that's the game of the movie; it goes completely overboard with the cliché but then does something unexpected that, we can tell, is not thought with the intention of omitting a formula- the clichés of a genre, I'm embracing its general disinterest (I applaud it), which concludes in a weirdness that the movie also embraces. And I'm not even saying it's a good film.

DreamCatcher7 Henry Roth (Billy Crudup) writes books for children all the while suffering from the ramifications of a childhood with a missing father and an abusive, probably violent, mother. He has a bit of an OCD problem as well.His mentor, best friend, and parent replacement, is Rudy Holt (Tom Wilkinson), who illustrates Henry's books. When Rudy dies, Henry is devastated. He keeps imagining seeing Rudy, thus continuing to let 'Rudy' tell him how to handle Life. Something Henry is not very good at at his own.He is teamed up by his publisher Planck (Bob Balaban) with a new illustrator, Lucy (Mandy Moore). In the beginning, he treats her like he would anybody else, which means mean, but it becomes very clear that she is a nice person and quickly he begins to like her. But he doesn't know how to break the habit of being strange and sarcastic. (Anybody who's been shy and hurt knows that being rude or weird is a perfect way to stay safe; to keep people away from the core).Here is what he tells her in one long hilarious monologue which conveyed by the brilliant Billy Crudup comes out exasperated, hesitantly and too fast all at the same time and with a voice that is nearly broken , due to the fact that he has realized that he's told her far too much: "I hate my mother I hate my goddamn dead father more, Rudy was the only friend I ever had, I had a girlfriend once who I used to like to masturbate to more than have sex with, carrots and snakes frighten me um I'm superstitious about the numbers (3. 5. 7) I can only stir things counter-clockwise and I know that if I don't something bad will happen, I take a size 11 and a half shoe I don't have a favorite book, I don't drive or ride in cars, statistically speaking you have a 100% chance of being in an accident in your lifetime, they're death boxes, I give to Amnesty International on the off chance that I'm ever imprisoned and tortured for my political beliefs, paradoxically I have no political beliefs, um Life is pain, black kids are cuter than white ones, I didn't mean it when I compared you to our waitress I was only trying to hurt you, I could've been meaner about your looks and what I would have said would've made you cry, I have a towel I can't throw out because it may have feelings, when I ejaculate I go into deep depressions, though by any standard you're a nice person I deeply resent having to work with you, I love Japanese monster movies, Gamera specifically.." Ultimately, it's a love story told in a funny, quirky way and with great performances by Billy Crudup, Tom Wilkinson, not to mention Bob Balaban. Mandy Moore does a good job as well.Oh, and Life at its best is a love story, isn't it?

Dumbhead28 This gentle romance is about an anxiety-ridden children's book author, Henry Roth (Billy Crudup) who seems to suffer from simultaneous bouts of tourettes syndrome, paranoia, and OCD. Holding on to resentment for his troubled childhood and possessing a great disdain for life in general, he has no problem bringing those around him down to his level of desolation.When his only constant, long time friend and more optimistically inclined illustrator Rudy Holt (Tom Wilkinson) dies and leaves him alone to deal with himself, Henry is forced to work with a new illustrator, Lucy Reilly (Mandy Moore) because of a contractual obligation. She is the epitome of the "nice girl" Rudy had wished for his undeserving friend, and naturally, Henry wants nothing to do with her.When scaring her away with his cutting personality succeeds, he finds, thanks to a series of conversations with his dead friend, that despite his resentment of having to work with Lucy, he actually likes her. The question is, can he get over himself enough to make it work? I have to admit, I almost turned the film off towards the beginning when Henry Roth says something completely obscene to a little girl during a book signing, but I gritted my teeth and reminded myself that I'm not supposed to like this character, not yet, because he doesn't even like himself.The soundtrack and art direction in this film are worth mentioning as is the wonderful performances of the supporting cast, Tom Wilkinson and Dianne West as Lucy's almost bipolar mother. I loved the constant metaphor/parallel of Henry and Lucy's relationship and the book they are trying but failing to write. I also appreciated that Henry never uses the truth about Lucy's fiancé as a means to win her affections. There is also a scene in the diner that deals with child abuse in such a truthful way that I'm gutted every time I watch it.Dedication has a quiet depth to it that most mainstream Hollywood movies lack. Within the dialogue you will find truth in the tagline, life is what we make it. It's easier to push happiness away in fear that it will reject us, thus living in a constant yet comfortable state of misery. Throughout the movie Henry dismally refers to life in a pessimistically dramatic fashion with lines like, "Life is nothing but the occasional burst of laughter rising above the interminable wail of grief." But towards the end of the film his friend firmly rejects that viewpoint with the greatest line in the film, "No… Life is a single leap for joy." Because it is, even if most of us are too scared to leap.

imdbob-2 Calling this a "romantic comedy" could scare off a lot of people who hate the term, and the recent Hollywood films of that genre.In true indie fashion, this film creates a romantic comedy with jarring bits of editing, amazing music that you'll either love or kinda hate (it's as jarring at times as the editing), and a lead performance that begs you to hate the guy.But like the best pearls come out of gritty sand that irritate the clam (or oyster?...obviously didn't take marine science in school), and yes, I probably was prompted to write that analogy after 2 key beach scenes in this film....this film's eventual path to being an odd romantic comedy makes it stand out from the pack.If true love can develop between a woman and a guy who's got seeeeerious issues, then there's hope for anyone. Billy Crudup, like other roles I've seen him tackle, can't act bland to save his life. But that makes for some interesting characters. And in this one he doesn't disappoint.Mandy Moore is practically a bona fide movie star with this film. Through the film, she seems one step away from being a goth-like illustrator scraping her way through life with her talent, and she certainly isn't ready for love either. But when these 2 do connect, the result is all the sweeter.The music is pretty incredible...and other performances like Tom Wilkinson's and Bob Balaban's and Dianne Weist's score as well. To think this is actor Justin Theroux's first film shows incredible promise from him. Show me a recent film debut by an established actor-turned-director with as much moxie as this. (Maybe Zach Braff with "GARDEN STATE"...but this out-moxies that one.) Oh and by the way, I was at the same NYC premiere that the other commentator on here was at. Unlike him, I'm not vying to be the next writer who has to be creatively bitchy in his prose. I'm here to say that though this film might not work for everyone, it'll work for the majority of people who seek it out.And since I saw this film as a pearl that comes out of grittiness...I can be creative too and say that for that viewer, this was a pearl before a swine.