Phew, I just watched this movie last night. Bought it on a whim after it was recommended to me.
It's a very dark film. It's advertised as a "tragicomedy" (black comedy is probably the more accepted term), but it's so far from a comedy, that a tragedy would be a far more accurate descriptor, and I mean that in the Shakespearian sense of the term. There's bits of humor peppered throughout, but it always evokes awkward laughter, in the sense that you don't know whether you should be laughing at what you see, or simply feeling worse for the characters' miseries. I'm not entirely sure if this was intentional or not; either way, it works, because it shows just how fucked up and human this guy (played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, rather brilliantly I might add) truly is.
The tone just doesn't let up. The film builds and builds the stress and tension of the main character's gasoline-huffing addiction, mostly in the way he alienates everyone around him and brings himself further into the depths of sadness stemming from the loss of his wife to suicide. By the end of the film, you would expect some cathartic release and a feel good moment, but there really isn't any. Afterwards, you get the feeling that perhaps not everything is resolved; this guy still has issues, and he will continue to. But, hey, that's being human.
This film refuses to have an equal balance of feel-good moments to the depression, which is admirable and unique. This guy is a real character. He breathes and aches and pains and you believe it. When his life completely falls apart to his addiction, it's nothing short of devastating, not particularly to the character (who, in the depths of his addiction, probably doesn't feel much of anything), but to us, the audience, who sees the character's chance at redemption fall further into the distance. And then, at the end, there is hope, but it's incredibly faint and not simply handed to the audience, as someone like Steven Spielberg might do.
I find huffing hydrocarbons profoundly disturbing, so this was an uncomfortable experience for me, but not because the movie failed. Rather, it absolutely succeeded, and I loved it, I just don't think I can watch this one often. I expected a "tragicomedy," and I got an immensely fucked-up film, in all the right ways. Not completely perfect, but it hit me pretty hard, so I'm happy to have seen it.
