Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Red_Identity I just did not expect... that. Great respect to Josh Mond. I think he took on an incredibly heavy film that managed to feel incredibly visceral in its portrayal. I could physically feel it, its last 30 minutes probably being the most uncomfortable film-watching experience of any film from 2015. What makes it work so well are the performances. There's such an innate authenticity and raw power to the cast's work here. I've liked Christopher Abbott from what I've seen him in, most notably Girls. I never would have thought he was capable of what he did here though. Definitely one of the best performances of last year. Not a fun film to watch at all, but holding that as a criticism would be a complete disservice to everything the film does well.

wildsparrow16 Who is Christopher Abbott and will someone give the boy an Oscar? The acting by Nixon and Abbott are so real it's like being in the room with them.This movie is for anyone who has been in a caregiving position for a loved one, and knows the anger, frustration, pain, depression, anxiety and fear that comes with it. It's for anyone who has been on the receiving end, who has battled cancer or otherwise felt their death to be imminent. It's for anyone who has had friends or relatives described above.FINAlLY - a realistic portrayal of a cancer battle and the struggles of those who love them deepest.But overall, this is about overcoming life's greatest hardship - fear of losing the person you love more than anyone in the world. Oh - and the poor kid has no job, no help and has just lost his Dad, by the way. Yes, let's see how much more someone can take before they crack - although not all will crack. Some will go on and be okay. And nothing can hurt you after that kind of pain.

Turfseer First-time writer-director Josh Mond has fashioned a cinema-verité style drama based on his own experiences of losing his mother to cancer. During a recent Q&A, I learned that he bonded with noted actress Cynthia Nixon who plays the mother of the title character James White, and who also lost her own mother to cancer.What I liked about Mond's protagonist James White, is that he's no sad sack—he's a character that basically likes himself despite tussling with a few demons deep down inside. One critic described James White as an "antisocial delinquent." Others might refer to him as a "Ne'er do well" but I think "sociopath" is a more appropriate moniker.I've met a few people like James White in my life and I'm struck by their narcissism, aggressiveness and almost complete lack of a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience. Still, as we see in Mond's somewhat compelling portrait, James has an honorable side too, manifested in his devotion to his mother, who leans on him for support in her last dying days.When we first meet James, his father (who left the family years ago), has just died and his mother is holding Shivah, the traditional Jewish mourning period, for the family of the father's second wife at her apartment. James appears disheveled after a night of carousing at a nightclub and inappropriately throws everyone out after taking offense at his non-relatives watching a video of his father's wedding to the second wife.Soon afterward, to make matters worse, Nick, a friend of his, gets into a fight at a bar and James also joins in and almost provokes a complete free for all. James promises his mother Gail that he'll look for a job but he needs to take a break first, so he goes down to Mexico with Nick, who recently obtained a job as a clown at a resort. You might wonder how a guy with no prospects like James can so easily find a girlfriend but he has no troubles picking up a woman who he meets down in Mexico, employing a series of glib and subtle pick-up lines. It's a sad commentary that women often are attracted to "bad boys," all the while ignoring the obvious signs that the guy they've become interested in, has little moral conscience.At the midpoint, James suddenly gets a call from his mother that she's experienced a relapse with her cancer, which is now Stage 4. Dutifully, James returns back to New York City where he becomes more unhinged due to his mother's rapid decline and it appears that he's now taking some kind of drugs (he almost gets into another fight, this time with Nick, and accidentally cuts himself). James is unable to fool Ben, a family friend, who interviews him for a job as a writer. James comes to the interview again disheveled and hands in his poetry, scribbled on loose leaf pages, as a writing sample. Ben tells James that he can come back and interview again, if and when he gets himself together. Nonetheless, James tells his mother that he got the job.The rest of the film focuses on James' noble effort to assist and comfort his mother as she succumbs to the ravages of cancer. Despite James' unhealthy co-dependent relationship with his mother, his actions reflect a positive side that we haven't seen earlier. In this respect, we find that James attains a measure of redemption in the good deeds he performs for his mother. Mond's unflinching portrait of a cancer victim (as well as Nixon's startling performance) is quite commendable as there's no sugar coating of this terrible disease.Christopher Abbott's performance is also quite convincing. Nonetheless, Mond's script feels truncated and the denouement, abrupt. I wanted to see what happens to James White—how he turns out. Despite the underdeveloped nature of Mond's story, he's a talent to watch and I'm convinced there are good things to come with future offerings.

jmanger85 Watched this gem of an indie film the other night. From the plot summary and reading other critic reviews I kind of knew what I was in for. It was going to be a heart wrenching, realistic portrayal of one young man's downward spiral in experiencing death and dying of his closest loved ones.James White is a mid twenty something New Yorker with a taste for booze, drugs, and women. In the the wake of his absent father's death, James is distraught and self medicating to deal with his feelings of pain and anger. With no one really talk to, he is alone in figuring out how to navigate some very difficult life situations. As a 30 year old single male, I could really relate to James White.The core of this movie was between James White and his mother dying of cancer. The performances from the film's two leads are amazing and some scenes are just a punch in the gut. All James's mother wants is for his son to grow up and know he will be able take care of himself. Like many young adults, growing up and finding yourself is not always that easy. James White shows you how difficult it can be...I enjoyed the ending, but a lot of watchers will not.Without giving away anymore of this well written, directed and acted film, I will just say go watch it! If you are a fan of indie dramas then you will thoroughly appreciate this one.