What a waste of my time!!!

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

I was very interested in seeing Clea DuVall's directorial debut. For years I have only known her as an actress (a very capable one) so I wanted to see what her skills behind the camera, and behind the typewriter if I must say, were. I definitely think there are some contrivances here, flaws that continually stick out. The film is a bit disjointed at times and unsure of where it really wants to go, and yet it still never falls apart and is quite enjoyable. Although the screenplay is very flawed, it also shows a good amount of talent in its dialogue that makes me interested in what DuVall can create next. The reason it works so well is probably because of the very talented and dedicated cast. I do recommend it.

Imagine you are having a boring and otherwise quite normal married life. You decide to go on a vacation with a couple of your old friends who you've not seen in a long time. When you get there you find out that they are organizing an intervention to help you sort out your relationship troubles. Only one problem there. You realise that none of your friends have the moral ground to host this conversation. You'd probably go "Huh? why are we even doing this?" You'd probably get pretty mad at your friends. Maybe never even talk to to them again. On the surface this movie looks like a harmless romcom but the intentions that are driving the plot are questionable and hard to digest. Why in the world would your friends want you to get divorced? Oh, only if they are commitment phobic themselves... guess that makes sense, right? No! It's plain psychopathic.Many people in relationships struggle to stay sober. Some are just not capable of taking major decisions about life. Alcohol never solves that problem. Many people lose their life partners. They struggle to start new relationships. These were some profound aspects that The Intervention could've focused on but it instead squandered all the deep emotions as the plot rushes to complete the 2 days 3 nights schedule of messing up and making up while none of the relationships show any promise. Is that closer to reality than I think? Are interventions and sit downs even effective? Doubtful! For the sake of the story, we can agree that there is an inherent problem with modern relationships. We all want to be independent. So, the dynamics really don't work the way they used to in traditional marriages. Trusting someone and then settling down with them is all the more difficult. Then why to even pretend that you need anyone? The Intervention doesn't fight this hypocrisy nor does it stress on the value of building a family. Its like an unnecessary food for thought.Commitment phobia is more than just a matter of relationships. It is partly a social issue and and partly a psychological response to change. This movie however doesn't address that. Instead it jumps right onto the quarter-life crisis drama of married couples and couples not sure about marriage. It tends to strengthen the misconception that commitment issues are predominantly prevalent among the affluent. Well, we do see more marriages fail in higher income groups but that's not the point. Anyone can have commitment issues. Whether or not they are rich, successful or even ambitious for that matter. Our dependency on technology and social media is turning us into confused, prejudiced and superficial people. Movies like The Intervention push us further towards behaving immaturely. One pleasant surprise from the movie was Ben Schwartz's immaculate performance as someone grieving yet coping with it. His character Jack is the most normal of the bunch also the voice of reason. Such a long way from Jake and Amir days. Cobie Smulders does a fine job in making her performance convincing. Her character manages to take a stand that gives some closure to the audience. It was much needed because the intervention surely didn't work.

Imagine a world where Tyler Perry makes a movie with real actors, believable dialogue, actual adult behaviors, depth and characters you actually care about. Before you say anything, it's not a racial issue. It's a talent session with real adults of 2016.I only bring up Perry because this movie, white actors or not, felt similar in setting and conflicts and yet, 100x more real than the stage- turned-movie sh|t he's spewed out. Watch out! Adults swear. Oh, my goodness! People have sex outside of marriage. And don't look now! Alcohol can be consumed. People can discuss problems in a gorgeous, remote home, but still be real. Here, I felt the interactions were genuine. I know sometimes there were one-liners and some made me laugh, but they don't happen all the time in real-life like a lot of snappy indie films about "real-life" lead you to believe.Let's back up a bit. The Intervention is about a long-standing group of friends and relatives that vacation in an incredible home on certain weekends of the month. This holiday, however, is hosted and manipulated by one of the group to host an intervention for a married couple of the clan whose marriage appears to be on the rocks. Everyone (here and in your life) has flaws. So who can really tell others how to live? And there, folks, we have our movie.It's not perfect, but it was refreshing to feel real again. Not Hollywood glamourizing couples or having Oscar-bait tear-jerking scenes. It was quick, tight, nothing huge and something to enjoy for under 90 minutes.We all need an intervention. If you feel you don't, let me read you something I wrote about you before you entered the room…***Final thoughts: WOW! Never even got to my favorite part of this movie. What a great reunion of both Clea DuVall and Natasha Lyonne…both I loved in But, I'm a Cheerleader. Spoiler, sorry, in both movies I saw them in, they were a lesbian couple. It would be nice to think these were their same characters, but they weren't. Still, once I saw them both on screen, I squealed in delight. Additionally, in the closing credits, it was nice to see this was DuVall's passion project as I learned only then she was the Writer and Director in addition to one of the group of friends. So, it must've been her who made sure Natasha returned as her on screen love interest. Awww. Makes me smile……and want to rewatch But, I'm a Cheerleader for the twelfth or twentieth time! (I lost count. Love it!)

Greetings again from the darkness. Clea DuVall: Actress/Writer/Director/Producer. No one who has followed her outstanding career (especially as a standout in many independent films) can be surprised that she is spreading her creative wings into all aspects of filmmaking. Her directorial debut can best be described as a contemporary version of Lawrence Kasdan's The Big Chill (1983) for today's thirty-somethings.Casting is key for an ensemble project, and it's especially difficult for a serio-comedy exploring the insecurities and inherent unhappiness that corresponds to the closest relationships. The premise here is that four couples meet at a beautiful and isolated lake house just outside of Savannah. The motivation for this meet up of old friends is a "marriage intervention" for one of the couples … something that must have seemed better in theory than it plays out in reality.The couple whose marriage is in the target zone is played by Cobie Smulders (The Avengers, "How I Met Your Mother") as exhausted mother of three Ruby, and Vincent Piazza ("Boardwalk Empire") as the long-ago-gave-up-trying Peter. The others are played by Melanie Lynskey ("Two and a Half Men") as Annie, who has continually postponed her wedding to super nice guy fiancé Matt played by Jason Ritter; Natasha Lyonne ("Orange is the New Black") as Sarah, long-time partner to Ruby's sister Jessie (Clea DuVall); and Ben Schwartz ("House of Lies") as Jack, who brings his free-spirited, much younger girlfriend Lola (Alia Shawkat, State of Grace).We quickly witness the bitterness and lack of caring that has poisoned the marriage of Ruby and Peter, and of course, it doesn't take long to spot all the cracks in the relationships and personalities of the others. Annie is a control-freak who appears to be a full blown alcoholic, while Matt is such a nice guy, that he refuses to stand up for himself and have some pride. Sarah and Jessie avoid any serious discussion regarding why they aren't living together yet, while Jessie's weakness for younger girls plays a role – as does Sarah's secret. Jack is obviously avoiding dealing with some personal issue (which we later learn) as he plays kissie-face with the no-strings-attached Lola (not Lolita).The script tries to tackle an enormous number of issues, sub-plots and characters, and while we pretty easily get a feel for each, we never understand how these people ever agreed that a group attack was the best strategy. No amount of charades, barbecue or kickball can hide the messes that define each of these folks … whether married or not.The actors have tremendous comedy timing and handle these moments much better than the ultra-dramatic moments. Cobie Smulders and Ben Schwartz are real standouts here, which is quite a compliment given the tremendous on screen talents on display. It's a group that can gracefully pull off a Subaru joke while also playing cut-throat charades and dodging thrown peaches.Ms. DuVall will undoubtedly go on to make better films than this one, but as a first project it offers some terrific moments. Sara Quinn (of Tegan and Sara) scores the film, and though some excellent tunes are included, the music was at times disruptive to the flow of the story. The film will probably hit home with a great many who fall into the thirty-something age group, though older viewers will likely prefer to re-visit The Big Chill from more than 30 years ago.