Infinitely Polar Bear

2016 "Sometimes family is the best medicine."
6.9| 1h27m| R| en| More Info
Released: 19 June 2016 Released
Producted By: Paper Street Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

A manic-depressive mess of a father tries to win back his wife by attempting to take full responsibility of their two young, spirited daughters, who don't make the overwhelming task any easier.

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Reviews

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
Executscan Expected more
Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
blanche-2 Mark Ruffalo stars in "Infinitely Polar Bear" along with Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky, and Ashley Aufderheide, from 2014, directed by first-time director Maya Forbes. Forbes is a very talented woman I hope to be seeing more from as a director - she's already an established writer and producer.The story takes place in Boston in the late 1970s, where Cam Stuart (Ruffalo) lives with his wife Maggie (Saldana) and their children, Amelia and Faith.Cam is bipolar and job problems lead him to a nervous breakdown. He is institutionalized and then moved to a halfway house. Though he comes from a wealthy family, the money is in a trust. Maggie has a tough time making ends meet. She decides to get her MBA and wins a scholarship to Columbia. Cam is doing okay on lithium and is more on an even keel, so Maggie has him move in with the kids while she goes to New York for eighteen months, returning home on weekends. Her plan is to return to Boston after school and get a good job, which has eluded her thus far.It's a tough adjustment. The place is in disarray, Cam constantly embarrasses his kids for either being too friendly with the neighbors or hanging out with them and their friends, not to mention driving around in a pathetic car.What a wonderful movie told with such warmth and humor. The acting is wonderful all around. Both Ruffalo and Saldana are totally likable, and the kids are great - not cloying at all. The title comes from the kids misunderstanding the term "bipolar."Definitely worth viewing - a wonderful film.
meeza Novice Writer-Director Maya Forbes has made a touching film based on her family growing up; which features her bipolar-disorder diagnosed father. Forbes' "Infinitely Polar Bear" stars Mark Ruffalo as Cam Stuart, a bipolar man from Boston who has two young daughters and is currently semi-separated from his wife Maggie played by Zoe Saldana. When Maggie decides to flee to New York to pursue her Masters' Degree, Cam is left with the grandiose responsibility of taking care of his two daughters Amelia & Faith. Forbes hardly includes any huge dramatic scenes of the ill effects of bipolar disease in the picture. What she does include is the daily eccentricities of a man with a mental disease carrying task after task of caring for his daughters and all the challenges behind it. The only hiccup I have of this is that subtly Forbes does not incorporate much how horrific it is to live with a mental disease as bipolar disease, obsessive compulsive disorder, etc. Nevertheless, this film is really the vehicle of Mark Ruffalo, as he once again shines infinitely in a character. Mark has made his mark as one of the best actors working today. Zoe Saldana was very solid as Maggie. And Imogene Wolodarksy and Ashley Aufderheide were outstanding as respectively Amelia and Faith. So get on the Polar Express, and go infinitely to "Infinitely Polar Bear". **** Good
penniweninger I didn't know what to expect, but I've loved Mark Ruffalo in almost every role, and have recently realized that Zoe Saldana is far more than the "It" girl I thought she was. My faith was rewarded. The two were magical in their chemistry with each other and the two delicious actresses who played their daughters. It's a film that reaches into your heart and pulls out the part that wants to hug someone. Perfectly wonderful sharing experience for middle schoolers and their parents.
evanston_dad Writer/director Maya Forbes obviously feels quite passionately about the subject of manic depression, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the depiction of it in "Infinitely Polar Bear" is based on some personal experience. But the film she's made misses its marks by a wide margin, turning manic depression into something little more serious than a set of wacky eccentricities that with the right frame of mind can make a parent even more fun than he/she might otherwise be. Mark Ruffalo plays the parent struggling with mental illness, caring for his two daughters while his wife and their mother relocates temporarily from Boston to New York to go to school. That a mother would leave her daughters with a mentally unbalanced father in the first place, and further that she would continue to leave them with him after she finds out things like he leaves in the middle of the night and doesn't come home until morning, is treated by the film as no big deal. And it's not a big deal, as the movie would have it, since in this film mental illness just means that one has to deal with a kooky and sometimes embarrassing father. I have direct experience with mental illness, and this film's sugar coating of it is not only unrealistic but is downright irresponsible.Mark Ruffalo hams it up to the high heavens. He's a much better actor than one would ever be able to glean from his performance in this film. Zoe Saldana plays the mother and does OK with a not terribly interesting character, but as written she doesn't make any sense, so there's only so much Saldana could do with the character anyway.Grade: C