Thanks For Sharing

Did you see Shame and, when it ended, wish that they would make a sequel?  But did you also wish that that sequel would be a romantic comedy?  Well, you're in luck!  There's a movie called Thanks For Sharing that fulfills your wishes.

Now, it's not actually a sequel to Shame, but it sure seems like it.  Mark Ruffalo plays Adam, a hyper-successful New Yorker who has been 5-years "sober" from sex addiction.  On the advice of his sponsor, Mike (played by Tim Robbins), Adam begins dating again and meets Phoebe (played by Gwyneth Paltrow).  Adam must deal with having a relationship, fighting his demons, and being a sponsor to a young man, Neil.  Meanwhile, Mike has to face his past when his former addict son suddenly returns home.  Also, Neil befriends a sexually addicted girl and they become friends in order to recover together.

Thanks For Sharing isn't a bad movie, but it's not all that great either.  The problem is almost entirely in the script.  It's terrible.  The story is pretty good and the characters have nice (if clichéd) arcs.  But the dialogue is awful.  Really awful.  Much of the movie is people joking and/or flirting with each other and it's the worst.  The jokes aren't funny at all and the flirting is just plain awkward and weird.  To be honest, the dialogue reminded me of plays and screenplays I tried to write in junior high.  The difference being that it only took me one reading to realize that my words were unnatural and that I wasn't as clever as I thought.  Somehow, writer/director Stuart Blumberg (an Oscar nominee for writing) was unable to see that in his own writing.  And I guess that Oscar nod blinded the producers.

What you're left with is a film that coasts on the charm of its cast, which is ample.  Mark Ruffalo almost sells his lines but he does sell the conflict of being a sex addict who's trying to find love.  Gwyneth Paltrow is irritating, but she's in her underwear a lot, so I'll give her a pass.  Tim Robbins does a fairly good job when he's playing the wise, old sponsor, but it's not so believable when the emotions start flying.  The real standouts are Josh Gad and Pink (credited as Alecia Moore, but ask The Rock how being credited as Dwayne Johnson is working out).  Their storyline had the most progression and the script never has them flirt, so they come out looking like champs.

Here's a weird thing I noticed: none of the characters really overcome their impulses.  Just as they are about to give in, the phone rings.  This happens a half a dozen times in the movie.

For every good thing, Thanks For Sharing has something working against it.  I'm giving it a very slight recommendation (mostly because it has a great soundtrack).  Don't go out of your way to watch it, but there are worse ways to spend your evening.

5 out of 10