The film reflects the true situation of a modern life being highly influenced by the Internet. Following the story of a group of high school teenagers and their parents, the film attempts to state clearly how the Internet has changed their lives in many ways: communication, relationship, love and purpose of life and also the way people deal with it.
It's like a collection of shared and traded Instagram posts. Revealing the telling moments of individual lives in snapshots leaves an itch to dig deeper.
The entire cast all turn in first-rate performances, as Reitman has given us a finely executed and fascinating cautionary tale that leaves lots of food for thought.
"Men, Women & Children" is crowded with characters and subplots, a few of which resonate - but more often, an individual's story seems lost in the cyberflurry.
Cinemixtape
April 15, 2016
If Reitman's aim was to push buttons, make us think, and give his cast a stage for some stellar performances, he's succeeded wildly.
(Writrer-Director) Reitman indicts our society, which has become not just wired but thoroughly trussed up. He comes down too hard, though, on the one character who is perceptive enough to see from the start where all this connectedness is heading.
Men, Women & Children attempts to achieve the tone of Reitman's early films, pirouetting between behavioral levity and dark melodrama, yet it often falls flat.
It's the kind of movie where you wouldn't be surprised to discover Reitman and co- writer Erin Cressida Wilson were ticking the boxes on a literal checklist.
As the narratives build toward their predictable conclusions, "Men, Women & Children" seems wholly unaware that these various evils existed long before Facebook and Instagram.
