Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky, Ashley Aufderheide
Distributor: Icon Films
Runtime: 88 mins. Reviewed in Mar 2015
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Dealing with a difficult theme, say a mental condition like bipolar, is never easy in cinema. However, this semi-autobiographical tale from writer-director Maya Forbes manages to be sweet and laugh-out-loud funny while never forgetting the gravity of the throes of mania and depression. Throw in a likable, committed cast, and it’s an infinitely rewarding equation.
The year is 1978, and bipolar husband and father Cam Stuart (Mark Ruffalo) has had a particularly bad breakdown. His wife Maggie (Zoe Saldana) and kids Amelia (Imogene Wolodarsky) and Faith (Ashley Aufderheide) are terrified, hunkering together in the family car while Ruffalo rages outside with some of the muscle memory of his performances as The Incredible Hulk. Cam is taken into custody, and the others move from their country home into a small city apartment in Boston, living off the minimal allowance Cam’s wealthy relatives eke out.
When Cam is released into halfway house on new medication, he makes small steps to return to the family, but Maggie is unsure if he can be the father and provider that they need. Getting his own place, Cam continues to help as best he can. Sick of her lack of job opportunities as a black female in 1970’s America, Maggie wins a scholarship to study for an MBA in New York. She asks Cam to move in with the girls full time and be their stay at home Dad, a particularly unusual arrangement for the time. He agrees, desperate to impress Maggie and make their family whole again. With Maggie visiting every weekend, Cam struggles to stay on top of his illness and his responsibilities as a father, and the girls have to come to terms with their new arrangement as well.
Mark Ruffalo continues his brilliant form from ‘Foxcatcher’ here. While his Dave Schulz in the latter was gentle and sincere, almost apelike in his physicality, Cam displays an inquisitive lunacy, unfiltered in his self-destruction, which can result in poor language and lifestyle choices on occasion. His internal dialogues are clearly etched on his features, and the audience can read every tic and fidget. Opposite him, Zoe Saldana is a strong foil – the chemistry between them makes the heartbreaks caused by his chemical imbalances and her situation more keenly felt. Their children, played superbly by relative newcomers Imogene Wolodarsky (also the director’s daughter) and Ashley Aufderheide, deliver caustic humour about their poverty with relish, and provide the audience’s gateway into the injustice of their living situation. Ruffalo and Saldana work with their young cast mates beautifully as well, and they truly feel like a unit.
The setting allows some worthwhile themes to be explored, primarily regarding the stigmas of race, gender and mental illness rampant in the era. The crew also present the backdrop well, with production designer Carl Sprague filling out the apartments with nice kitschy details. Cinematographer Bobby Bukowski works in segments of Super 8 footage from Cam’s home movies, providing helpings of the visual pleasure that only cellulite film can give.
It’s a short film at 88 minutes, and I felt like you could have spent much longer with the characters. For me, it’s usually a good film when you leave wanting more without feeling short-changed. This was the case with ‘Infinitely Polar Bear’, and while it likely won’t make waves at the box office outside of independent cinemas, it’s a fascinating and nuanced character study from start to finish.
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