Screen_Blitz The Internet is a very resourceful place whether it is for research, communication, entertainment, or anything else. The Internet has made an undeniable impact on everyone across the globe since it first hit the cyber world in the early 1990s. It can also be a dangerous place, and that has lead to serious and at plenty of times, tragic consequences -- take cyber bullying for an example and how the petty acts have flooded on social media, leading to infamous cases of suicides of individuals. This film directed by Jason Reitman attempts to showcase an important message about how the Internet and media-based communications can have damaging effects on individuals and their relationships with others. The film follows an ensemble cast of characters in five interconnecting story lines of high school teenagers and the fate of their relationships with their family and peers from the use of the Internet: one following Don Truby (played by Adam Sandler) and the fate of his marriage with his wife Helen (played by Rosemarie DeWitt) from his porn addiction his son Chris (played by Travis Hope) soon inherits, one centering on a single mother Donna (played by Judy Greer) attempting on getting her daughter Hannah (played by Olivia Croccichia) via posting modeling pictures of her online, one revolving around paranoid mother Patricia (played by Jennifer Garner) with her compulsive monitoring on her daughter Brandy's (played by Kaitlyn Dever) social media and text messages, one following single father Kent (played by Dean Norris) struggling to connect with his son Tim (played by Ansel Elgort) who plants himself in online gaming after quitting the football team, then one about a cheerleader Allison (played by Elena Kampouris) seeking online advice on her anorexia.With the fateful events that take place from beginning to end, the film is brutally honest on conveying the consequences of being careless on the Internet. There are many situations the characters experience plenty of viewers can relate to. Themes of infidelity, porn addiction, fame hunting, video game addiction, and doubt in self-image play major roles in the plot as the viewers are pulled deep into the lives of each character when they are face the dilemmas of Internet that damages the relationships with their loved ones. Unfortunately, the film leaves one crucial element to fully develop its message untouched: a solution. As you watch these characters make unwise decisions to have negatively affect their lives, and they never reach a sense of redemption. The film ends on such a dry note and fails to leave any crucial impact, although there is some parting thoughts to be offered. The story line centering on Judy Greer attempting to get her daughter in the modeling business is a bit weak and provides very little offer (probably would have been better as a feature length film), while the rest offer some form of intelligence. The narration by Emma Thompson is not only unnecessary but gets a tad bit distracting and at times, even laughable. Her metaphorical explanation on the satellite and it's relation with phone communications serves almost no purpose to the plot other than explaining something many people know already. On the bright side, the cast does turn in some fine performances, nothing particularly in the Oscar caliber. Adam Sandler gets a chance to venture outside his goofy personality typecast and showcase a strong dramatic performance. It's doesn't mark his first time though, as he's done some dramatic work in the past including 'Punch Drunk Love' and 'Funny People'. The young teen actors use their good time to shine as well.Men, Women, and Children may formulate an important message on he effects of the Internet and mobile communication but it fails to fully justify what it's trying to tell us and falls short of its ambition. The performances are satisfying but they can't save the film from Jason Reitman's uncertain direction and the efforts that never quite pay off.

Shady Janzeir The film is a messy, chaotic mishmash of sub-plots that predictably fail to amalgamate into one overall, coherent plot. Though little is resolved at the end, the movie isn't a complete waste of time, if only for the pleasure of seeing Adam Sandler play a normal human being for a change. The film tries to be a cautionary tale both for and against the Internet and its misuse, abuse, and overuse, but it fails both ways, and ends up canceling itself out. It tries to remind us that despite the internet - or, perhaps because of it - we are still real, live human beings, with flesh and blood and wants and needs and desires and lusts and fears and angst, but we already knew that since about 2004, so it's about a decade too late.

tarchon If you like cautionary melodrama laid on so thick that you aren't sure if it's supposed to be a joke, this movie is for you. It reminds me a little of Crash and (if you go way back) Mazes and Monsters. It seems to want to be an exploration of how the internet collides with teen angst, but it weirdly seems to have been written by someone who was never a teen and only knows what the internet is from 2nd hand descriptions. Aliens maybe? I really don't know who could have come up with this script in earnest. It's full of weird misconceptions about things that I previously assumed were part of commonplace experience. I'm pretty sure the actors were taking it seriously though. Wow, is there a lot of Serious Acting being Acted here.

lindseyiam I went into this movie without many expectations, as it was more-so something to fall asleep to. However, I ended up incredibly invested right away.I'm giving this an 8 out of 10 because there are some loose ends in the movie that left me feeling unsatisfied. The plot for Brandy and Tim was most important to me, and I would give their story alone a 10/10. Ansel Elgort was flawless in his role, building a very convincing and real-feeling relationship with himself and Brandy. I wasn't sold on Brandy's character at first, but she really won me over.Kent and Donna's mini-plot was really a great addition to the movie, as I felt it was needed to balance out many of the wild plots happening between other characters. It was simple, sweet, and tied up very nicely at the hospital in the end.I was content with the ending to Allison's story, although I felt there should have been a minor focus on her realizing Brandon was a jerk, for a lack of nicer words, and more focus on her addressing her real problems.I am most disappointed with where Chris and Hannah ended up. I felt that their plot was abruptly cut off and basically tossed in the garbage. I was expecting their plot to pick back up after Hannah left her mom's car and stormed away. However, I can accept this because I'm sure it would have ultimately needed far more time than the movie would allow to round out their story.I was also very impressed with the work put into the 'technological' aspect of the movie, re-creating all of the social media. The on-screen messaging overlay was a great touch, and helped to really tie in the themes of the movie.Overall, this movie left me feeling pretty emotional. It also left me wanting another movie with more about Tim and Brandy. I'm glad I decided to watch this.