Dean (2016)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Overrated and overhyped

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

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.

'DEAN': Three Stars (Out of Five)An indie comedy-drama written and directed by actor Demetri Martin, who also stars in the film. Martin plays a Brooklyn cartoon artist (he also did all of the illustrations for the movie) named Dean, who recently lost his mother and broke up with his fiancé. The film costars Kevin Kline,Gillian Jacobs, Rory Scovel, Mary Steenburgen and Reid Scott. It's gotten mostly positive reviews from critics, and it won Best Narrative Feature at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, but it also underperformed at the indie Box Office. I found it to be slightly amusing, but not nearly as emotional as it seems to think it is.Dean (Martin) is a published cartoon artist who lives in Brooklyn and recently lost his mother. He's having difficulty dealing with her passing, as is his father, Robert (Kline), who's also having trouble adjusting to living alone. Dean was engaged to be married, to Michelle (Christine Woods), but after his mom died, things didn't work out. He performs very poorly in his best friend Brett's (Scott) wedding, as a 'second best man', and then travels to Los Angeles to meet with some ad executives about using his art. He meets a woman, named Nicky (Jacobs), at a Los Angeles party there, and starts to fall for her. The whole time he still tries to cope with his mother's passing, deal with his recent breakup, and try to convince his dad not to sell their family home. The movie has all of the ingredients of a well made (and emotional) comedy drama, but it feels like it's just going through all of the motions of one (to me). I think I'm a pretty big sucker for emotional dramas, but this one didn't really make me feel that much. It's slightly funny, and it's filled with sad characters, but it doesn't feel like a complete movie to me. I think Martin probably has some decent talent, as an actor and filmmaker, but he kind of misses the mark here (in my opinion).Watch an episode of our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/PdeLWCp_JrI

I've been a fan of Demetri Martin since I was 12/13. His awkward humor and use of drawings had been so funny to look at and I even own one of his books, "This is a Book." When I heard Demetri was soon going to have a film released, I was excited as all hell! So I quickly checked the first run theater where I saw Trainspotting 2 at to see if they had Dean, and was promptly disappointed they weren't screening it. A day later, I saw they WERE screening it and IMMEDIATELY drove over to go see it. I've read reviews saying the film played it safe, which I suppose I have to agree with to some extent. I haven't seen a lot of Rom-comedies, mostly because they all end the same where the couple either gets together or dies, so seeing Dean advertised as a Rom-com worried me. What sets "Dean" apart is it's use of clever cinematography and the fact that unlike other comedies these days, ITS ACTUALLY FUNNY. In a sea of terrible films like "Snatched" or "Office Christmas Party," this film made me laugh from the very beginning and gave me faith in the indie market. The cinematography is also very clever. There's one shot where Dean is sitting in a restaurant drawing and when his dad calls him about selling the house and Dean persistently comes up with reasons why the house shouldn't be sold, we see a young child in the background also drawing on the tablecloth to show how Dean is coming up with childish reasons to avoid selling the house. "DEAN" is one of my favorite films of the year, and I'll definitely go see again because of the clever writing, clever cinematography, superb acting, and also because ITS ACTUALLY FUNNY. Overall, I give "Dean" an 8.6/10.

We learn at the beginning of the story that a father and his grown son have just lost a wife and mother and are about to begin the grieving process.The father is played by two time Oscar winner Kevin Kline who turns in an outstanding performance. Likewise Dean, the son, is played by Demetri Martin in a excellent break through performance.. So is the director, screenwriter and producer also in the person of Demetri Martin. An important part of the story are single panel cartoons which are interspersed throughout the film and focuses the mood and irony of various situations in the movie. These drawings are also by Demetri Martin. So who is Demetri Martin? He has been a stand up comic for many years, has worked with Conan O'Brien on TV and has published a book of his own cartoons . He is obviously very talented and was able to draw upon his own experience of having lost a parent at a young age and his understanding of the universal search for love combined with a finely honed sense of humor.Despite the initial premise of the story, this is really not a sad or tearjerker of a story, except the few times that Dean listens to a saved message on his iPhone of his late mom giving him words of encouragement. This is more a story of exploring different ways of grieving, as well as budding love of both a young and older man. It also uses two great exciting American cities that traditionally have been a backdrop for cinematic romance, New York( Brooklyn) and Los Angeles. The two respective women who have stirred the potential of deep romantic feelings in father and son at a time that they were on opposite coasts were Nicky (Gillian Jacobs) and Carol (Mary Steenburgen). Many of Dean's buddies in the movie, are played by actors and comics who have captured the beat of his generation.The net result of this 87 minute film is a feel good experience which reminds us that the connection between loss and new love is natural and inevitable. We highly recommend this movie. It is funny and poignant with surprising depth. (2017)

Seen at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival. Written and directed by Demitri Martin, with a nice role for Kevin Kline. A nice mixture of laugh-out-loud humor, but also a surprising melancholy pervades throughout the film. Martin's very clever drawings take a central role in the movie, too. This is a story that isn't new or groundbreaking, but Martin infuses it with his own wit and wisdom, and the results are a very enjoyable and thoughtful first feature. Highly recommended.