People who liked Crash, the 2004 Oscar winner, and Babel,
the 2006 Golden Globe winner, will probably enjoy this. Like those
films, it features an ensemble cast and interlocking storylines. In one,
two teenage boys target a classmate by pretending,
via text message, to be a female admirer. In another, a female news
reporter sees a good story in another teen working for an online webcam
service. In a third, identity theft brings a couple’s financial
and emotional truths into sharp relief.
People who didn’t care for those award-winning films might yet like
this one for the very reason this is less likely to win an award, which
is that it does not scream Important Film quite as loudly, despite culminating in simultaneous
confrontational sequences, complete with slow-motion footage. It lacks the cross-cultural
aspects—the “we’re all racists” message of Crash, the ethereal “we’re all invisibly connected” one of Babel (though also the visual impact).
The uniting theme, as the title
suggests, is the need for connection, and the way that the digital world can both provide that and provide the illusion of that. Not everything works — I couldn’t figure out why the prankster kid hates his father so much — but for the most part the characters and stories are credible, if not indelible. Jason Bateman and Hope Davis, as the parents of the teen
prank victim, are the best-known stars.
viewed 4/4/13 7:30 [PFS screening] at Ritz East and reviewed 4/5–15/13
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