IMDb plot summary: A man suffering a family loss enrolls in a class about care-giving that changes his perspective on life.
Directed by Rob Burnett. Starring Craig Roberts, Paul Rudd, and Selena Gomez.
The Fundamentals of Caring stars Paul Rudd as a caregiver for a teenager with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, played by Craig Roberts. The story focuses on the relationship between the two as they navigate their own demons. I never quite know how to feel about these "once I got to know someone with a disability" stories. While I approve of more disabled characters in film, most of those movies end up feeling patronizing. I give this film credit for trying to sidestep the more problematic tropes (there's even a sequence where the teenager accuses Rudd of using him for inspiration) but it doesn't seem to bring much to the table in its place. It's like it spends more time trying to avoid the "wrong" thing than doing anything interesting. And at the end of the day it's still primarily Rudd's story even when it tries to be Roberts'. It's not an awful film -- this kind of story has been done much more thoughtlessly -- but it feels unimaginative and halfhearted and I know I'm going to forget it within a week of having seen it.
How it entered my Flickchart:
The Fundamentals of Caring < Jesus Christ Superstar (2000)
The Fundamentals of Caring > The Man with One Red Shoe
The Fundamentals of Caring < The Hangover
The Fundamentals of Caring < *batteries not included
The Fundamentals of Caring < My Big Fat Greek Wedding
The Fundamentals of Caring > Sex Tape
The Fundamentals of Caring < Baby Boom
The Fundamentals of Caring > The Da Vinci Code
The Fundamentals of Caring > My Darling Clementine
The Fundamentals of Caring > Reminiscence
The Fundamentals of Caring < About Last Night...
Final spot: #2703 out of 3716, or 27%.
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