The Giant Mechanical Man (2012)

Load of rubbish!!

The first must-see film of the year.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

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.

All the elements of great filmmaking are here in this heartfelt, charming Romantic Drama. The story's strength is rooted in human emotions that finds a wide audience. The screenplay is polished without being totally predictable. The acting is wonderful and I cared about the leads throughout. Many movies miss the mark as they strive for so much they leave their characters behind. This film never forgets what is most important to the audience. It is shot exceptionally well and the color grading is robust and highly cinematic. I come away from watching this well-executed film completely satisfied and aspire to one day shoot something half as good. For indie filmmakers and the general public alike, this is how it's done. The film is a simple gem worth watching several times.

I love discovering movies I don't know, and watching them unfold. It doesn't always pay off, but it did with this one. I lerve this movie. So much so I watched it twice. It's the sort of film that you carry around with you for days after. The supporting players were all top notch. Topher Grace is still making my skin crawl, which is a huge compliment to him. Jenna is always charming and relate-able. I was taken by the heart of this story. Chris and Jenna's performances were both endearing, funny and tender. The proverbial misunderstanding was there – girl loses boy, girl gets boy back – but thankfully minimal. It didn't get in the way for me, but it's why I gave the film a 9/10. Chris Messina as Tim is completely original and memorable. Such a great story, moving and quirky, and a little bit haunting in the very best way.

"The so-called consumer society and the politics of corporate capitalism have created a second nature of man which ties him libidinally and aggressively to the commodity form. The need for possessing, consuming, handling and constantly renewing, offered to and imposed upon the people, has become a biological need." - Herbert MarcuseLee Kirk's "The Giant Mechanical Man" stars Chris Messina as a street performer who parodies the drudgery of consumer capitalism by dressing up as a giant robotic man. In love with him is Janice, infectiously played by Jenna Fischer, a middle aged woman who likewise feels out-of-sync with the world. Both characters drift aimlessly through life, finding little value in civilizational offerings and sceptical of the slogans, buzzwords and rituals of those around them. "Man" has been criticised for its one dimensional portrayal of everyone outside of its romantic couple. But that is also the point. Like an indie version of philosopher Herbert Marcuse's "One-Dimensional Man", Lee's portraying a society that has been moulded, institutionalised and preconditioned to accept what is essentially shared psychosis. Lee's characters are obsessed with conquest, acquisition, marketing themselves (and others), and assigning value to everything and anything they touch. Writing for an economic journal decades ago, Albert Einstein would denounce this as man's "predatory phase", but to Janice and Chris, it's nothing less than poison. Everyone else thinks they're nuts.Regardless, "Mechanical Man" struggles to sustain its message. The film eventually devolves into indie-clichés and a terrible final credits sequence in which love and penguins conquer all. The film contains an interesting subplot "about" silent film, and includes a scene in which Janice dons baggy clothes, a sequence which aptly recalls Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times". 7.9/10 – See "Eagle vs Shark", "Ghost World", "Wendy and Lucy" and "Land of Plenty".

I see film after film after film, ( partly because I have no life at the moment ...ha ) and rarely do I a come across a Jewel like this. I cannot believe that most of us don't struggle with not knowing what you want or who you are and what you're supposed to do. The moments of fate in this film seem very hard to believe but possible I suppose. I'd like to find that one person to make me feel like I belong too. This film makes me want to wish I had a reset button so that I could see it over and over again for the first time. Chris Messina was effortless and the chemistry between him and Jenna Fischer was magical. I'll see this film again and again...