The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)

I truly enjoyed this film and really didn't want to see it end. Not sure if this has been mentioned on any of the other reviews or boards, but I thought this film had a similar spirit to The Road Within, another fantastic and quirky road trip film. Some critics complain about the predictability of the film, but I couldn't disagree more. I never felt deceived or played to with clichés. There was a definite playfulness that I greatly appreciated. There was great chemistry among all the cast and I would highly recommend a watch. It's uplifting, hopeful, poignant and often at times laugh out loud funny. Based on a novel, the story is about a middle aged man who has suffered incredible losses and becomes a caregiver and gains a new perspective. A true gem and one i could see re-watching with friends and family. I rarely write reviews, but this is one I am more than happy to make the time and spread the word!

Fmovies: The Fundamentals of Caring is a good film. I've never seen Paul Rudd in a drama before, but he surely did nail this role. His character is a caretaker for children, and he starts caring for a handicapped boy who shares his thoughts about family. I've never seen a Netflix Original movie, excluding Calibre, that I can actually call: "worth your time". Selena Gomez is also in the movie. Although her character is a little aggravating and hard to like, she does fulfill her character arcs and grows from a broken and traumatized person, to a fixed and light-hearted person in the end. This goes for all the characters In the film as well. I also admire how this film is based on a novel, and has no narrator. Films like Ready Player One and The Kissing Booth, have unnecessary narration. The Fundamentals of Caring does not have this though, which makes it more subtle and easier to love. This film is definitely worth the watch and I'm giving it a 7/10.

I absolutely LOVED this movie. It was a great mix of emotions: touches of sadness with sarcasm and hilarity thrown in at all the right moments. The actors were great and portrayed their characters beautifully. This movie is great for people who love Indie films and do not mind some cursing along the way. This was a heart-felt film that was riddled with sarcasm and hilarious jokes. Some scenes even caused me to laugh so much I would have to pause the movie to collect myself so I could hear the next scene. (not an exaggeration) This movie is definitely worth the watch with its great actors, writing, and overall uplifting feeling. 10/10 would recommend and watch again!!

The Fundamentals of Caring fmovies. This is a simple road trip movie with a handicapped teenager and his caregiver that build a relationship as the movie progresses. They aim to visit the worlds largest hole in the ground.

This in itself does not sound like much but the performances from the actors and, to my utter surprise , the absolute naturalness of Ms. Gomez make this movie work really well.

Strange how hard it is to say something about a movie that does everything right and has a surprise performance by someone you don't expect it from. I fell in love with her during this movie and i think she will be a great actress in years to come.

As was the performance of Roberts and the short but very well played part of the pregnant girl. Of course Rudd was good as always.

Are Roberts and Selena the new half of the new breakfast club ? I certainly hope so. Way to go Ms. Gomez, impressed !

When I read Netflix's synopsis about The Fundamentals of Caring, I did not expect much from the movie. Given the somber premise, I thought it to be an incredibly mushy, overly emotional film. I have to say the movie exceeded my expectations greatly.

First of all, The Fundamentals of Caring does well to avoid the tropes that one normally associates with the genre of the buddy comedy. It also pokes fun at the clichéd movie "disabled" person, one who is either larger than life or depressed with his life. What we get are two very original characters, Ben (played by Paul Rudd) and Trevor (played by Craig Roberts), who are just ordinary human beings.

As original and well-written Ben and Trevor's characters may be, Dot (played by Selena Gomez) is not at all well-developed throughout the movie's run. More than Ben, Dot is the character that inspires Trevor to push past his limits and jump over his self-imposed hurdles. Although this is a crucial part of the story, the character herself does not contribute much other than blank expressions and explicit dialogues. This is both a fault of Gomez and of the movie's writers, as the character could either have developed so much more throughout the movie, or she could have had a smaller role in the scope of the movie.

While the movie gets off to a strong start, it does not maintain this momentum as it progresses forward. It would have been beneficial for the writers to have stretched the movie's run-time in order to develop the climax more, as it felt incredibly rushed. While increasing the movie's run-time runs the risk of making the movie "too long," I find that a movie that is too short in length sabotages its chance of leaving a lasting impact on its audience.

Despite the flaws in the writing of the movie, I found that Paul Rudd and Craig Roberts were phenomenal as Ben and Trevor. Paul Rudd is normally known for his comic roles in movies like Anchorman and Antman. However, he manages to deliver a natural, sincere performance as Ben, a grief stricken caregiver. It is in the quiet, subtle moments of the movie that Rudd manages to convey Ben's suffering and what he's going through. It is these moments that demonstrate that Rudd has a great deal of acting range if it's channeled by his directors.

While I have been familiar with Rudd's work, I was not at all familiar with Craig Roberts' work. I recognized him from his small roles in 22 Jump Street and Neighbors (And I had no idea he was British!), but not much else. This movie definitely shows what he's capable of as an actor, and I hope it serves as a suitable launch pad for future roles in his career. His portrayal of Trevor definitely surpassed my expectations, as he gave the character a sense of humanity and avoided going for the clichés.

Overall, I would recommend The Fundamentals of Caring to anyone who appreciates a good comedy-drama. While the movie is not perfect, it features two leading actors who are at the top of their game.

The Fundamentals of Caring surprised me for a couple of reasons. First of all, even though they started off great with Beasts of No Nation, Netflix has not made very good movies lately. With two bad Adam Sandler comedies and a mediocre Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon sequel, I started to wonder whether they were going to redeem themselves movie-wise. On top of that, this movie stars Selena Gomez, who hasn't made any good movies despite being relatively easy to look at.

Netflix, you have been redeemed, because this was an exemplary film with great acting from Paul Rudd and very likable characters. This was a fun movie to watch what with there being dark humor and heartwarming exchanges between the main trio. Speaking of which, all of the three actors were great! As I said before, Paul Rudd took the cake for me. He stole the majority of his scenes in the film, which again solidifies his talent for dramatic roles and not just comedic. Craig Roberts made me laugh multiple times throughout the runtime with the delivery of his lines. I have not heard of him and am looking forward to more roles in the future. And yes, Selena Gomez actually gave a well executed performance! I have nothing against her, it's just that after seeing clips of the movie Getaway I was skeptical. There is an appearance of Bobby Cannavale in this movie that I quite enjoyed also.

If you are looking for a movie completely purged of clichés, than this may not be the one for you. The backstory does help you feel for the characters, but has been seen in various other films.There is also a distinct lack of obstacles, but this does not deter the film from working its magic.

The previous paragraph is basically all I found wrong with this film, and I was just looking for things to nitpick on. If you are looking for a good film to watch with your family on Netflix, The Fundamentals of Caring is perfect, and it is a shame that The Do-Over is significantly more popular than this gem.

I give The Fundamentals of Caring 8/10 stars.

P.S. Watching this with your family might be a problem because this does have a decent amount of language. This is in no means A Christmas Story; it's more of a Rain Man type film.