Just finished watching "Dean" and don't have intense thoughts or feelings staying with me as one does with the best films. I did enjoy watching it though, for there was enough thoughtful and humorous content to keep me involved. I think the low-key personality of Dean worked well in showing a young creative man dealing with grief and his own personality issues. I had the sense life wasn't exactly a great fun ride for him even before his mother's death.
The use of his cartoons and his subtle sense of humor served to highlight the troubling aspects of the main characters' lives, including, not only Dean, but Robert (Kevin Kline), and Dean's so-called best friend, Eric. They were all dealing with loneliness and loss in one way or another.
What didn't quite make it with me was the score. I've never been a fan of this type of music which I'll call folksy-pop music. In this case the songs' lyrics related to the action that was taking place, e.g., when Dean makes the somewhat out-of-character move of leaving the airplane just before takeoff because a woman he liked called him, the song's main lyric was "I'm a gambler..." Because I find this music to be almost sappy, having it accompany strong emotional moments seemed corny to me, and didn't enhance a film that already has its elements of nerdiness.
While for me it was a pleasant way to spend an hour and a half, I could see how a viewer who's personally dealing with loss of a loved one might get more out of it.
The use of his cartoons and his subtle sense of humor served to highlight the troubling aspects of the main characters' lives, including, not only Dean, but Robert (Kevin Kline), and Dean's so-called best friend, Eric. They were all dealing with loneliness and loss in one way or another.
What didn't quite make it with me was the score. I've never been a fan of this type of music which I'll call folksy-pop music. In this case the songs' lyrics related to the action that was taking place, e.g., when Dean makes the somewhat out-of-character move of leaving the airplane just before takeoff because a woman he liked called him, the song's main lyric was "I'm a gambler..." Because I find this music to be almost sappy, having it accompany strong emotional moments seemed corny to me, and didn't enhance a film that already has its elements of nerdiness.
While for me it was a pleasant way to spend an hour and a half, I could see how a viewer who's personally dealing with loss of a loved one might get more out of it.