Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Really Surprised!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Although, it may seem to many about loneliness and melancholy... its much much more than that. The movie shows a mature examination of the effects of technology, industrialization and almost everything which describes the 20th century human life, narrated by the central character Prof. Walter Zarrow. Some of the scenes are written and directed wonderfully by Tim, especially the one where Kristen Stewart shouts out loud how lonely her life is and Prof. Walter is probably just mesmerized at the young raw intelligence in so much grief. The movie also shows how inconvenient and difficult it can be to even call a friend in need, and how easily a stranger can buzz in a stranger in a tragic situation. The writing is so philosophical and intelligent that not a single sentence should be missed without digesting it. Surely its all bagel platter for philosophy and psychology students, but so it may be for others as well. The drug addict cites Augustine and Walter cites Montaigne before death and as a compliment, this movie can be and I am sure will be cited (at least by me) in many practical situations.

"Anesthesia" (2015 release; 90 min.) brings a sprawling story involving a seemingly unconnected group of people in New York. As the movie opens, we see an older guy walking home, buying flowers for someone (his wife we presume), and then just as he gets to his building, something terrible happens, as he is being buzzed in by a neighbor. The movie then goes back in time, and we get to know a slew of people, and how eventually it becomes clear that all of their lives are interconnected, directly or indirectly. At this point we're not event 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: this movie is nothing short of being a labor of love from Tim Blake Nelson, who wrote, directed, co-produced and for good measure also stars as one of the characters in the large ensemble (playing the son of the older guy). Here Nelson (best known for his acting work) brings us a complicated character study of mostly flawed characters who are dealing with demons of various kinds. Because of the strong story-telling and plot-driven context, it would be inappropriate for me to say much more than that. The movie features a number of noteworthy performances, none more so than Sam "Law & Order" Waterston as the philosophy professor who is pondering his options as his long and distinguished academic career is winding down. What an acting talent this is, a crisp mid-70 years young when this was filmed. Kristen Stewart (as the troubled philosophy masters student) is 180 degrees away from her "Twilight" franchise role, and makes the most of her brief screen time in this. Canadian composer Jeff Danna provides a lovely orchestra score.This movie was filmed in 2013, and premiered to positive acclaim at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, but it sank like a stone upon its brief theatrical release in early 2016 (it never even made it to my art-house theater here in Cincinnati). A darn shame. But the movie seems to have found a second wind with the subsequent VOD, TV and DVD releases. I happen to catch it on SHO the other night, and I absolutely loved this movie. No, this isn't a 'jolly good time' as the movie is serious and complicated, but I loved spending time with these characters and wasn't ready to say goodbye when the movie's end credits started rolling. "Anesthesia" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Instantly tedious, this Manhattan melodrama provides snippets into the lives of mostly unrelated characters with all sorts of problems that make a good majority of them turn into complete narcissistic animals. I can relate to the young girl who confesses to hating the obsession with devices over real interaction with people, accusing herself of being guilty of it as well. I find her hypocritical even in her honesty, and in her therapy, there seems to be nothing that she can do. She claims to be taken totally by surprise that this has taken over society, resentful that she was never told the rules (that obviously were never created), and her distaste for the lack of proper communication, ironically spoken in modern tongue that really doesn't say much but is embedded in the mind yet can't be formulated into understandable sentences. She's a perfect representation of the "safety pin" wearing, "cutting" age, taking out her self hatred in ways that most people can't fathom. I've had that distaste in my own aura for at least two decades, and in my own vision of what common decency and sensible behavior find that we live in a world of uncommon sense, each residing with an I.D. for our own state of confusion. I was hoping to care about the characters closer in social status and race and age to my own, and found myself caring more involved in issues that have long plagued our planet rather than those suffering from social insecurities brought on by their addiction to all things fake that make drugs and alcohol seem tame in comparison. Even with its attempts to show the evils of the technologies of today (something I truly believe), I found its methods not satisfying or presenting of a decent solution. That makes the film ultimately pointless and dangerous in revealing that the disease of technology is a plague we are simply stuck with whether we like it or not. Sam Waterston has several interesting monologues, but all it succeeded in doing was perplex me even more. That's what this film is, a trip to the state of confusion with characters whose own mindset is selfish at best and misanthropic at its worst. I can feel for the drug addict forced into rehab, the past retirement age professor who is brutally mugged and even the socially confused youngsters. But there is no sense of wanting a desire for improvement, no desire to be a decent loving and understanding parent, and certainly no desire to respect the parent even when disappointed in them. All this does is show how messed up society has become under certain liberal agendas. That makes it at its best, boring, and at its worst, more depressing than an Edward Albee play. While the ending tries its best to be profound, it went all over the map in trying to get there and reminded me of the issues of this era I can't even begin to sympathize with, let alone the generation of dimwits who continue to blame the problems on the world on innocent people without seeing the entire picture yet continuing to thrive on the existence of their phones. Even with talents like Sam Waterston and a totally wasted Glenn Close, I think this one to really be skipable.

Seemed like an alright flick based on the trailer and the cast but it was a very forgettable experience.Takes itself way too seriously, overpretentious and oversentimental yet lacking interesting plot-developments and characters to truly care for. With some deeply contrived dialogue that just does not feel natural half the time, for instance why is Kristen Stewart who's supposed to be a emo teenager speaking like she's reciting for Hamlet or something?Now don't get me wrong I actually like K Stew a lot generally but her character in this I don't think anyone could make seem believable.Luckily (in a way I suppose) her character only shows up from time to time but then it's a ensemble movie and unfortunately the other characters aren't that much better and not much plot to speak of.It's not bad to the point that I want to bash my head into a wall or anything but in the end it mostly felt like a wasted time watching it.