Clevercell Very disappointing...

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

kmev This movie is an interesting take on life, suicide, and human behaviour. I enjoyed watching it. Good performance from Paul Rudd and good suspense. I can't properly capture the gist of the film with words but it gave me lots to think about the human condition. *****Warning, may contain spoilers below:*****Even though there is an element of make-believe implied in all movies, there are still some logistical points I have. First of all, it seems odd to promise to kill yourself in two days, so much so you have assembled a whole crew to film it, yet at the same time have absolutely no thoughts whatsoever as to how you might do it. This is especially surprising since, in the film, character Paul Miller states his mind has been made up and he's already thought killing himself through. Next, the film ignores the risks of CO poisoning and, despite the fact it appears Paul is in his car for a long time (I am under the impression you would die in 5-10 minutes), he is still able to pry open the car door and wakes up a while later with only a few side effects(perhaps the movie tried to show memory loss as having him not remember waking up earlier in the hospital?). Also, I suspect he would have likely been blinded and in worse condition but I'm no expert (disclaimer). His "2-day-old-friendship friend" would have also been in considerable danger so I was left wondering what happened to him. In fact, this friend was present for most of the suicide and after.Lastly, the ending was amazing but for it to occur Paul just up and left the hospital. It is a huge process to leave a psych ward because the wards are locked down and patients are usually fitted with monitors. And if you just killed yourself, you would generally have a monitor and constant surveillance every 5 minutes. You might even be locked in one room if you're only in an emergency ward. Either way, in real life the ending still could have occurred after he left the hospital heavily medicated after a lengthy discharge process with a guardian there to monitor and escort him out but that ruins the magic so we'll leave it.But either way, I liked the portrayal of Paul Miller so I shall let these minor queries/technicalities slide. This film really spoke to me personally at the time. 7/10

MBunge 2 Days is a marginally engaging film burdened by indecision, confusion, a pointless gimmick and an ending that seems to take a lifetime to get through.Paul Miller (Paul Rudd) is an out-of-work actor who decides to kill himself. For reasons that are never entirely clear, he decides to get some people to film a documentary about the last 2 days of his life before he commits suicide. That's pretty much it. The whole movie is pretty much just Paul interacting with the film crew, his few friends and some folks he runs into by chance. The character of Paul doesn't appear to have any point in what he's doing. The filmmakers don't appear to have any point in what they're doing. I don't know how much of this movie was scripted and how much was improved, but there's really no story here. It's just a bunch of unconnected events.What saves 2 Days from being a total disaster is some fine acting. Paul Rudd effortlessly play a man who thinks he's better than his life, yet is still filled with self-loathing. He gives Paul Miller some real depth and dimension. As Miller's best friend Stu, Adam Scott manages to be both a selfish self-involved jerk as well as the most adult and responsible person in the story. Caroline Aaron and Graham Beckel play Miller's parents and they show how these people love their son but neither really sees him for who he is. Donal Logue and Mackenzie Astin play two other friends of Miller and serve as alter egos. Logue plays a man who is what Miller could become if he gave up his pretensions, while Astin is what Miller would be if he could live up to his pretensions. Almost all of the male characters, in fact, are interesting, funny and believable. None of the female characters, outside of Miller's mom, are worth a damn, but I don't think that's the fault of the actresses.Those good performances largely go to waste because very little else in this film works. To start with, this story never comes close to deciding what it is about. Sometimes the movie is about a guy who's tired of life and wants to kill himself. Sometimes the movie is about a guy who says he wants to kill himself and then feels trapped by that silly pronouncement. Sometimes the movie is about the filmmaking process and Paul isn't even that important. Sometimes the movie is about the unfairness of the acting business. Sometimes the movie is about how people find their best selves during the worst times. Sometimes the movie is about a subplot involving Stu, his girlfriend and the sound guy on the documentary. Sometimes the movie is about Paul's ex-girlfriend. Because it's about so many different things, 2 Days is constantly brushing up against compelling and fascinating possibilities that get shoved aside as film's focus shifts yet again.This indecision and confusion extends to the way the movie looks. It arbitrarily switches back and forth between "real video" footage and normal film. I kept trying to figure out if there was any reason why it went back and forth like that and there wasn't any. 2 Days could have completely been a pseudo-documentary or it could have dispensed with the "real video" stuff entirely and it wouldn't have made any difference at all. Maybe aimlessly melding the two visual styles seemed bold and new back in 2003, but there's no purpose to it other than the hollow one of seeming bold and new with actually being bold and new.And then we get to the ending. Ye gods. After carelessly veering back and forth between black comedy and serious drama, the movie finishes itself off with a sappy, sentimental and neverending scene where I think we're supposed to assume something meaningful is unfolding. We have to assume that, because the filmmakers never bother to do anything meaningful. The film is basically people wandering around, followed by people wandering around and ending with people wandering around.If you don't care about things like plot and don't worry about things like why the folks filming the last 2 days of a guy's life spend so little time actually filming him, if you can just appreciate good acting, you might find 2 Days worth about 87 minutes of your time. If you need more than that, you won't find it here.

voacor One of the hardest things to pull off is a comedy mixed with serious drama. This film does it well. The acting is superb and the story is engaging. Most of the craziness revolves around the main character, who remains steadfast in his resolve to kill himself even as others plot to change his mind or refuse to take him seriously. The actress who plays his girl friend, Rachel, could be the next Halle Berry. Beautiful and talented. Some of the other actors are also deserving of bigger and better roles in the future. This film just came out on DVD-- check it out.In regard to the scene on the beach-- I think his intent is made clear by his statement about the credit cards.

JasieTarae To start, the only complaint I have with this film was its length. Too short. Plain & simple, I wanted more. The acting was superb, the character development was anything but weak, despite what some skeptics may say, and the writing was dead on. I was most impressed with Paul Rudd's performance, but that's no surprise. He is an incredible actor with more talent in his pinky than most A-list hacks put together. He deserves so much credit & critical acclaim, but is generally relegated to character roles and cameos. Then again, who says character acting is such a bad thing. That is where many of the greatest performances come out.Also, I could have done without the sidestory of Jennifer & the sound guy. Interesting, but not necessary. And nomatter how some may speculate, I am a sap for happy endings and I don't believe he kills himself in the ocean. Just like I don't believe that Christian Bale drowns himself in the pool in Laurel Canyon.