Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The first must-see film of the year.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Ruffalo is terrific as whimsical, child-like Cameron. In fact the whole cast is wonderful at carrying across this tale of family tensions and mental illness. Some great scenes and light-hearted dialogue make sure that it never gets serious for long. "Unhand my foot!"

Mark Ruffalo stars in "Infinitely Polar Bear" along with Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky, and Ashley Aufderheide, from 2014, directed by first-time director Maya Forbes. Forbes is a very talented woman I hope to be seeing more from as a director - she's already an established writer and producer.The story takes place in Boston in the late 1970s, where Cam Stuart (Ruffalo) lives with his wife Maggie (Saldana) and their children, Amelia and Faith.Cam is bipolar and job problems lead him to a nervous breakdown. He is institutionalized and then moved to a halfway house. Though he comes from a wealthy family, the money is in a trust. Maggie has a tough time making ends meet. She decides to get her MBA and wins a scholarship to Columbia. Cam is doing okay on lithium and is more on an even keel, so Maggie has him move in with the kids while she goes to New York for eighteen months, returning home on weekends. Her plan is to return to Boston after school and get a good job, which has eluded her thus far.It's a tough adjustment. The place is in disarray, Cam constantly embarrasses his kids for either being too friendly with the neighbors or hanging out with them and their friends, not to mention driving around in a pathetic car.What a wonderful movie told with such warmth and humor. The acting is wonderful all around. Both Ruffalo and Saldana are totally likable, and the kids are great - not cloying at all. The title comes from the kids misunderstanding the term "bipolar."Definitely worth viewing - a wonderful film.

I agree with one of the reviewers, this film rates 10 stars...hands down. It IS also, one of Mark Ruffalo's better performances as well .. when is this guy going to get a very well-deserving Oscar?Mark Ruffalo plays a manic depressive husband asked to care for two daughters so that his wife (Zoe Saldana) can get her master's degree in business to support a better life for them.The film has heart, passion, spirit, warmth, and realism .... all bundled & balanced expertly into a fantastic drama/comedy with just the right balance of the rigors of mental illness on the individual and those that they love and are loved by them. It expertly tangos around sensitive issues not only of mental illness, but interracial marriages, parenthood, and a hatful of stereotypes all levels of society face.This hidden treasure will wrap you up in its own special "bear hug". :

Maya Forbes is a writer and also directs this movie which is mostly autobiographical but with name changes. Her real-life daughter, Imogene, plays the role that would have been Maya in the late 1970s. She is part of a prestigious family in New England and that is depicted in the movie. For example she is related to U.S. Secretary of State John Forbes Kerry.Mark Ruffalo is Cam Stuart (the real father was Cam Forbes), a free spirit in the 1960s, when he met his eventual wife, Zoe Saldana as Maggie. What was endearing as 20-somethings eventually became a large burden a decade later as they were raising their family with two young girls. You see Cam is bipolar, and to a child "polar bear" was a good substitute name. He was an infinitely polar bear.Essentially broke and with Cam just out of therapy after one of his breakdowns, Maggie decides to get additional education so that she can get a better job to support Cam and the girls. She leaves them in Boston as she goes to New York on an 18-month program to get her MBA.Most of the movie is about the trials Cam and the girls have, living together in a small, often messy place, with Cam doing the best he could to be a good father and mother. This part is likely very accurate as the writer-director was one of the girls growing up in the situation.With difficulty it worked and unable to find suitable employment as a black woman in Boston Maggie takes a job in NY which allows the girls to go to private school and get good educations. Although it isn't covered past that point it seems that Maggie and Cam were destined to just slip farther apart while being good parents to the girls.