Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Gordon-11 This film tells the story of a household of three people, and a neighbour who all have some issues, or even psychiatric problems."Maladies" is a film that concentrates on the lives and interactions of four characters. James is the one that stands out, as he is a psychotic young man who seeks solace in listening to phone tones. Catherine is also interesting, as she perseveres through the hardship of living with James and Patricia. I like the fact that she stands up for herself and is assertive in the diner.Though "Maladies" offer an interesting look at four different individuals who are tortured in some ways, I did not feel satisfied in the sense that I got something out of the film. It's like - now what, after the film?

kosmasp This is seriously strange and tough to vote for on any scale. But it did touch a nerve with me. James Franco is incredible in the main role. The characters and the story make "sense" (maybe not in the traditional sense, but they do). It all fits together even when the movie seems to go in a completely different direction.There is a story, but there are also bits and pieces that somehow do not make any sense. But the actors make this work. Like all the relationships in the movie are not really complicated, but it is told in such a fashion that it doesn't really feel like something you've seen before. I thought this was a good thing. I liked most of the ideas on display here (though there are obvious flaws too of course). If you can let yourself, you may be able to enjoy it too (if you are into these kind of movies that is)

fufubenguru Just came from the premiere at Cubix / Alexanderplatz (Berlinale film festival).I still have no idea what hit me. I really like James Franco, Catherine Keener, and the other actors are also quite good performers, as they usually act absolutely authentic to me. but the script was as if stolen from some over-enthusiast in a middle school writing class. Not even one piece of dialog struck me. No dramaturgy. Just NOTHING catchy. I like different layers of meanings, I tried so hard yet couldn't find it here. The picture is good. That's it. I fell asleep for some minutes, maybe I've missed something important, which would make me reconsider the movie, but it's unlikely.It started quite interesting, overall, very promising set of characters and their situation, but it just gets nowhere, for the whole movie. It is like you can actually feel how uncomfortable the actors must have felt with the script that has been handed to them.Save your time. This is my first movie review since years, and I don't claim to be a good critic. But this is just worth warning people.Just for a brief orientation, just to name a few (mostly popular) directors & writers of movies I enjoyed: Jim Jarmusch, Gaspar Noé, Werner Herzog, Wes Anderson, the Coen brothers, Alejandro González Iñárritu, David Fincher, David lynch, Quentin Tarantino

meytal rose Despite two main pretensions in the form of unnecessary captions and a few over the top voice overs, the movie raises good points regarding mental illnesses and the borders between normality, perversion and infliction. captions are used too widely and do not work when one of the characters has to repeat them during the following scene. the queer issue is nicely addressed, and not too salient. the directing is very good- a few shots and a few scenes are remarkably done. most characters are round and well written as well as acted. Catherine Keener is great as always, and David Straithairn as Delmar is a quite surprising strong character. the second part of the movie, starting with a compelling scene in which the mane character (James Franco) meets a blind old woman at the beach, is considerably better than the first part. the ending is a bit unrealistic, but works. very nice and observant cinematography most of the time, that serves the themes of the film well.