The movie is set in the early 2000s in Goshen, Indiana. It's a dark comedy following the journey of a depressive 27-year-old man who has to return home to his parents because he's run out of money. I watched the film to see if there was any "Mennonite" connection in the movie because of its setting in "Mennonite country." The short answer is "no."
Jim Roush (Casey Affleck) moves home from Manhattan, where he's had to walk dogs while trying to be a writer. At home is his 32-year-old brother, Tim (Kevin Corrigan), who is even more depressive than he is. Tim is divorced and has two daughters. His mother, Sally (Mary Kay Place), is incorrigibly upbeat regardless of the direness of any situation. Don (Seymour Cassel) is mostly stoic throughout, though he presses Jim on his plans.
Jim meets a nurse in a bar soon after arrival. Anika (Liv Tyler) somehow finds this depressive guy engaging. Though they initially have a quick hookup in the hospital where she works, they start to hang out together, along with her precocious son, Ben (Jack Rovello).
After watching a basketball team that Tim coaches that includes his two daughters, Jim and Tim compare notes about their depressive lives. Tim then drives himself into a tree but survives with two broken legs. Jim takes over coaching the team and eventually brings on to the team as well.
Jim goes to work at his parents' ladder factory, where his mother's brother, Stacy (Mark Boone, Jr.), also works and uses their delivery systems to ship drugs. Stacy, who prefers to be called "Evil," gets Jim to open a bank account and gives him $4000 of drug money. Sally gets arrested for the drug operation, but Stacy refuses to confess. Eventually, Stacy gets out on bail, having made friends with all the women in prison.
Jim finally seems overwhelmed by it all and tries to get Anika and Ben to go to New Orleans with him. Initially interested, she ultimately declines because of Jim's inability to commit to life. However, it all resolves in the end.
This is a funny movie for folks not afflicted with depression. Mary Kay Place holds it all together; without her glass-always-half-full optimism, it would have sunk under its own weight. Anika does seem an odd match for Jim--she has a steady job and feels great responsibility for Ben. Jim is unmotivated and directionless.
Although there is much familiar-looking scenery, I saw only one horse-drawn wagon in the film and no references I would consider Amish or Mennonite.
Jim Strouse, the screenwriter for the film, is a Goshen native and used his parents' home and business as settings for the film.
Jim Roush (Casey Affleck) moves home from Manhattan, where he's had to walk dogs while trying to be a writer. At home is his 32-year-old brother, Tim (Kevin Corrigan), who is even more depressive than he is. Tim is divorced and has two daughters. His mother, Sally (Mary Kay Place), is incorrigibly upbeat regardless of the direness of any situation. Don (Seymour Cassel) is mostly stoic throughout, though he presses Jim on his plans.
Jim meets a nurse in a bar soon after arrival. Anika (Liv Tyler) somehow finds this depressive guy engaging. Though they initially have a quick hookup in the hospital where she works, they start to hang out together, along with her precocious son, Ben (Jack Rovello).
After watching a basketball team that Tim coaches that includes his two daughters, Jim and Tim compare notes about their depressive lives. Tim then drives himself into a tree but survives with two broken legs. Jim takes over coaching the team and eventually brings on to the team as well.
Jim goes to work at his parents' ladder factory, where his mother's brother, Stacy (Mark Boone, Jr.), also works and uses their delivery systems to ship drugs. Stacy, who prefers to be called "Evil," gets Jim to open a bank account and gives him $4000 of drug money. Sally gets arrested for the drug operation, but Stacy refuses to confess. Eventually, Stacy gets out on bail, having made friends with all the women in prison.
Jim finally seems overwhelmed by it all and tries to get Anika and Ben to go to New Orleans with him. Initially interested, she ultimately declines because of Jim's inability to commit to life. However, it all resolves in the end.
This is a funny movie for folks not afflicted with depression. Mary Kay Place holds it all together; without her glass-always-half-full optimism, it would have sunk under its own weight. Anika does seem an odd match for Jim--she has a steady job and feels great responsibility for Ben. Jim is unmotivated and directionless.
Although there is much familiar-looking scenery, I saw only one horse-drawn wagon in the film and no references I would consider Amish or Mennonite.
Jim Strouse, the screenwriter for the film, is a Goshen native and used his parents' home and business as settings for the film.