I can't quite find the words to describe just how painful a film this is to watch. But I'll give it a go...
At a fairly busy industry screening at the Edinburgh International Film Festival today, Big Things had the audience optimistic after providing some great promotional material and freebies. Over the next hour and a half, said audience had every ounce of their enthusiasm drained from them. Those of us that didn't walk out after the first half hour exited the cinema looking ready to top themselves by the end.
This film is neither funny nor poignant. Normally in a badly conceived comedy, one can at least spot where the attempted jokes fell flat, but here there were no such guideposts. The only faint titter of laughter came from a scene in which one of the (criminally under-used) minor characters made a vaguely interesting facial expression. Perhaps the most jarring aspect of the film is the lead actor (who also co-wrote the script): a man so lacking in basic comic acting ability and any discernible charisma that every minute of his screen time is painful. He's in every scene.
To go into greater detail would take up more of my time than this deserves, so I'll keep it brief. The script is terrible. The production values are cheap (and not in a cool, low-budget kinda way). The lead actors are talentless. And the biggest joke? The marketing material quotes an IMDb review of the film which sounds more than a little biased. That same review compares the director's work to that of Leigh, Loach and Winterbottom: a sickening, self- indulgent statement that is frankly unforgivable and delusional in the extreme.
Don't believe me? By all means go and see this film, if it ever screens again. I dare you to stay in your seat beyond the first half hour.