People respond to loss in different way. In Robert Cannon's directorial debut he chooses to focus on the anger and blame one would surely feel after losing their wife in childbirth. Where this film takes a chance is the widowed husband, projecting the blame on his newborn child. This film is intentionally dark and successfully delves into the mind of a shattered man looking for anyway he can to keep some part of his wife alive. From caressing a strand of her hair in the shower, re- watching his marriage proposal to finally deciding to take up tennis, the sport she loved but was willing to give up for her family. While no one will confuse the lead actor, Robert Cannon, with a great athlete, you can totally buy someone consumed with grief and on the brink of madness, putting this obsession ahead of everything else and giving it their all. While it could have gone even farther and been more interesting, what works is we can still relate to this unlikable character and root for him to find away past his loss and focus on the one piece of his wife that he still has, his child. With some well placed humor from a string of, "hey I've seen that guy before," character actors, 30-Love keeps you a little off balanced and won't let you get comfortable with where it is going and keeps you there up until the very end.
Review of 30-LOVE
