Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

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.

Ed Uyeshima Like the central protagonist, this 2007 movie is a misbegotten mess. Making his directorial debut, actor Justin Theroux gets carried away with every film school trick in the book with self-conscious camera-work, annoying jump cuts and a music soundtrack that apparently has to comment on every scene. With a strangely cryptic first-time screenplay by David Bromberg, the movie boasts an impressive cast that includes Tom Wilkinson and Dianne Wiest, but it asks us to empathize with an obsessive-compulsive misanthrope whose actions alienate everyone around him. The ploy is too challenging since the character is more cruel than unfiltered, and his relentless bitterness rarely crackles with the wit necessary to get away with such boorish behavior. Moreover, subsequent attempts to humanize him feel increasingly contrived as the story progresses.The story revolves around Henry Roth, a prickly, phobic children's book author (an intentionally ironic profession for such an uncaring jerk) who bonds only with his longtime collaborator, a curmudgeonly illustrator named Rudy. They finally achieve success with a book about Marty the Beaver's campaign to save Christmas, but then Rudy dies. Henry's poker-faced editor, Arthur Planck, wants a sequel and consequently hires a young artist named Lucy to take Rudy's place. Lucy has her share of problems - a mother who is also her landlord and willing to evict her, and an errant lover named Jeremy who wants her back after dumping her. The movie's title is derived from the dedication to Lucy in Jeremy's about-to-be-published book. Motivated by a large bonus offered by Planck, Lucy is willing to subject herself to Henry's nasty comments, but of course, a romance develops. This is where the film falters badly as the love story is sketchily developed with little discernible chemistry between the two stars.The cast provides whatever redeeming value the film has. The usually audacious Billy Crudup does what he can as Henry, but it's an uphill battle. Better here than in last year's execrable "Because I Said So", Mandy Moore brings a certain poignancy to her scenes, but her downbeat character is so depressing that the only logical response to their romance is indifference. Wilkinson easily steals his scenes as Rudy both pre- and post-mortem, while Bob Balaban plays Planck in his typically low-key fashion. Wiest plays Lucy's mother in just a couple of tersely acted scenes, while Amy Sedaris, Peter Bogdanovich, Christine Taylor and Bobby Cannavale show up in cameos. The 2008 DVD is bereft of any extras, not even the theatrical trailer, which gives you an indication of what the studio thought of its prospects.

doloresklein1 Response to Boston Globe review (9/21/07) It took dedication and perseverance to see the Sundance Festival (not mentioned) film "Dedication" after reading your negative review. Having overcome the barriers created by your dissection of characters and plot I was surprised to find the film both rewarding and enjoyable despite Mandy Moore's hair color. The cinematography was fresh as was the use of music. The characters had emotional dimensions of complexity and interest in contrast to the flat facades too often presented in today's films. Henry's deep neuroses were believably quirky and contributed to the intrigue of an unpredictable character. His intense dialog with his dead friend and partner gave vent to his inner confusion and added a charmingly bizarre facet of interest to the film. I regret that you did not recognize the film's attributes.

bellejour This is a wonderful film with characters that touch the hearts of anyone who has ever known or been close to someone with a severe depression, anxiety disorder or real neurosis. Although Dedication can be considered a romantic comedy genre film, and may follow a somewhat conventional type of narrative, the actors breathe life into this story that in itself is a love letter to New York. NYC is a character in itself in the film, which is not to be overlooked. I loved this movie and think it is an amazing effort for Mr. Theroux. I am excited to see what his next project will be, considering this was a script he obviously acquired somehow, and didn't pen himself. "I think that hate is a thing, a feeling, that can only exist where there is no understanding." TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, Forward to Sweet Bird of Youth