If it would have played at Sundance, it would have stuck out a lot more than it did at TIFF where it got a little lost among the long list of worthy films to see. This was my final film screened before heading back home and if I haven’t mentioned it before Matt Aselton is a talent to watch out for. Unlike its title, Gigantic is a small in scope portrait which sees complex, oddball leads Paul Dano and Zooey Deschanel emancipating their romance in a series of miss-steps, but it’s the smart dialogue and a fine catalogue of moments that set this film apart for me. I’m glad that a smaller distribution company in
First Independent Pictures has picked up the film from the AFM, since it’s the sort of picture that needs lots of nurturing and caring during the marketing phase of the pic.
Aselton‘s directorial debut was co-written with and Adam Nagata (also his first film credit), and this is seen from the point of view of Paul Dano’s character — a mildly depressed single man named Brian who is trying to adopt a baby from China and who finds himself invovled with Happy (Deschanel) who he meets at this mattress warehouse located in one of New York’s many tall building types. John Goodman plays a memorable role as Happy’s brilliant, domineering dad.
I’ve tagged a Q&A from a TIFF screening and hope to have my full review up before the end of the year.
