**Spoiler Alert**
Director: Maya Forbes/Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Keir Dullea, Imogene Wolodarsky and Ashley Aufderheide
There are two types of characters in film that can be insufferable if not given proper dimension; drunks and manic-depressives. Director Maya Forbes' Infinitely Polar Bear may be the first film to feature both. Mark Ruffalo; an actor of considerable talent, is given the daunting task of making Cameron Stuart; the protagonist, someone real and of this Earth. Though the supporting cast have their own acting challenges, much rests on Ruffalo's performance.
Playing a manic-depressive is tricky; the precarious balancing act requires the actor capture the ecstatic flights of messy chaos that govern the mind of a bi-polar without the performance becoming incoherent. But the actor must also find the character's essence beneath the all the histrionics, lest the performance become Barnum and Bailey. As an unwritten rule, the character need not be charming or likeable, just watchable.
Unfortunately, Ruffalo's performance is susceptible to every aforementioned acting pitfall. Fortunately for the movie-goer, his performance is only vexing for half the movie until it becomes a bit more settled in the second half and hence, a bit more tolerable.
The time is the early 1970s' and the place is Boston. Mark Ruffalo plays Cameron, a manic-depressive father of two girls and a husband to Maggie (Zoe Saldana); who is thrust into the role of family breadwinner, for obvious reasons. Living on family money controlled and doled out by Cameron's grandmother and Maggie's modest library pay, the family's economic situation is kept buoyant, if not viable. While Maggie holds down her job, Cameron's bipolar condition prevents him from maintaining steady work, which makes parenting his daughters Amelia (Imogene Wolodarksy) and Faith (Ashley Aufderheide) a necessity.
The family's situation becomes complicated when Maggie is accepted to Columbia. The development entails being away from Cameron and her daughters but it also means leaving her volatile husband in charge. Unable to bring the girls to New York City, Maggie sees no alternative but to entrust the care of her daughters to Cameron.
The situation becomes predictably problem-laden as Cameron's over-the-top behavior becomes a source of embarrassment to the girls. His around-the-house projects, though useful and often creative, begin to consume every available space. The clutter becomes so overpowering the girls refuse to let the neighborhood into their home.
But Cameron's fanciful flights sometimes have a salutary effect; his daughters are often as likely to be amused and entertained by his whimsy as they are vexed by his hysterics. Sometimes Cameron seems remarkably focused, as when he manages to impress the girls by taking the initiative to tidy the apartment. Order is short-lived as tidiness becomes prey to his his scattered, chaotic thinking and his messy pursuits.
But Cameron's more troubling behavior resides in his highly irresponsible drinking, where all-night binges at a local watering hole mean leaving his daughters unattended at home. We see Cameron arrive home after one such outing, only to find the front door chained by his angry daughters, who we know are well-acquainted with his irresponsible drinking.
Maggie's weekend visits become an exciting weekend ritual for the family but also serve as ballast for Cameron's erratic behavior. In spite of Cameron's behavioral excesses, he manages not to alienate his family or lose their affection.
With her family firmly rooted in Boston, Maggie contends with problems of her own as she begins interviewing at investment firms in New York City. The prejudices and sexist views of the time are thrown into sharp relief when we see prospective employers recoil from Maggie's disclosure that she has kids.
While I found Mark Ruffalo's depiction of manic-depression unconvincing and hyperbolized, Zoe Saldana's performance proved to be more affecting and real. I found Maggie and her plights to be more compelling than Cameron's struggles with manic-depression and drinking. Maggie's story could have been the subject of a better movie; a black woman trying to raise two children in the bigoted, sexist seventies. But what we have instead is one more film about manic-depression; a topic I would prefer became extinct (unless someone can pen a more moving story).
If I can offer any honorific praise, it is in the production design. The 1970s' looked remarkably authentic but other than my selective praise, I'm afraid I can recommend little else about the film. Though we can give Forbes credit from steering the film away from cutesy-ness the title suggests the film might succumb to, we can only wonder why the story ignores the dark, antipodal moods that contrast the emotional highs in a bipolar's life. If the film's title doesn't put you off, the film itself may. For a story about a manic-depressive alcoholic, the film seems astonishingly free of gravitas. Cameron's bipolar histrionics and boozing forays often seem more like idiosyncratic flights rather than potentially harmful behavior that might test a family's emotional stamina.
As far as films about bipolars go, I have always preferred Richard Gere's manic-depressive in Mr. Jones. At least we got the lows with the highs in that film. Infinitely Polar Bear is all highs and mid-range. But as far as a movie-going experience goes, it's definitely a low; one unalleviated by any proper prescription or script.
