by Jon Partridge
Mental illness is a tricky subject to tackle. A film needs to tread a fine line, respecting and not glossing over the realities of its impact but also not alienating the viewer with something overly downbeat or overly saccharine. The more successful ones come from people who draw on personal tales. In Infinitely Polar Bear, writer-director Maya Forbes does just that, drawing on her 1970s childhood to show us a family dealing with a manic depressive father.
Cam Stuart (Mark Ruffalo) is a man estranged from his family, a division stemming from his bi-polar condition. When his wife Maggie (Zoe Saldana) decides to gain her MBA at Columbia University to make a better life for her two daughters and herself, Cam is brought back into the fold. While Maggie spends the week away, Cam remains in Boston, raising their children who have to cope with his illness as much as he does.
The mismatched pairing of an estranged parent being reunited with his children is a theme that has been explored many times, but where Infinitely Polar Bear sets itself apart is in showcasing a man and indeed his family coping with mental illness. It is a often a sporadic problem, various factors such as emotional state and medications fueling an instability and switching between emotional highs and lows. More than anything the film shows this in a genuine light, how a person, and those around him, copes day to day.
Cam’s embrace of a life as a single parent is a noble one, both to care for his daughters and try to fix his relationship with both them and his wife. His responsibility, from cooking, cleaning, to household chores, provides waves of opportunities for his manic behavior to manifest and provide conflict between him and his daughters (usually by embarrassing them like parents do), yet also levity and elation. There is an incredible feeling of satisfaction when Cam achieves something. This is unfiltered parenting, exposing his daughters to situations and advice that many normal parents would feel aghast to see, but these are often harsh lessons and truths that inevitably will serve the girls well. This relationship is shown in a reciprocal way; aware of their father’s eccentricities, the girls often shake off their petulance and act in a protective manner to their father. The highlight of the film is seeing this bond and understanding between a father and his children deepen.
The success of this aspect of the film owes a lot to its small cast, the standout being Ruffalo himself. He imbues Cam with rather sweet quirks and nuanced touches as well as some more outlandish behavior, veering between his states of deep melancholy or elation. Ruffalo shows a mastery of hitting the right tone in each scene, which given the erratic nature of the story is an incredibly impressive feat. Ashley Auferheide and Imogene Wolodarsky play wonderfully against the man playing their father and convey a genuine bond with him. This is a family finding out about each other, pushing each other; it’s often painful, but they get through it and it makes for a very satisfying journey with them. Saldana’s role as Maggie is perhaps the one least explored in the film, which is a shame as it is an interesting character, a woman striving to better herself and provide for her children while making a choice to leave them. But Saldana does get a few notable scenes, one discussing her “future” with Cam as well as offering up some opportunities for the film to deftly touch on racial issues.
Screenwriter and first-time feature director Maya Forbes imbues the film with a lot of authenticity, drawing on her own experiences with her bi-polar father. It’s a little uneven at times, but this actually seems to benefit the film and its protagonist. The cutesy title and matching score sometimes threaten to undermine the film, but it never gets too saccharine; treating the subject with respect but becoming maudlin, in fact it shows a lot of hope. In the beginning, Cam is roused from his lithium addled state by his daughters due to their need for him and his devotion to them. The need to nurture overcomes much of his overwhelming darkness. It’s not an overly bleak or raw take on mental illness, but it doesn’t mean it is any less real or affecting.
THE PACKAGEImage quality is crisp; details and colors are good. It’s a very nice visual presentation. Special features include a UV digital copy of the film, trailer, and a number of deleted scenes.
An audio commentary is also present featuring Forbes, Ruffalo, and producer Wally Wolodarsky, who all provide some decent technical and personal insights into the production of the film. Finally, there is footage of a Q&A from last year’s LA Film Festival where cast and crew members, including Ruffalo, Saldana, and Forbes, reflect on making the film and respond to audience questions. Both these features are nice additions which open up some of the more personal aspects of the film from Forbes in particular.
THE BOTTOM LINEDespite the heavy subject matter, Infinitely Polar Bear is an enjoyable, touching, and above all approachable insight into the travails of a father’s mental illness. The writing, together with Ruffalo’s performance, ensures the film isn’t fixated on the disease but the person and those it affects, making it a very genuine and moving piece of filmmaking.
Infinitely Polar Bear is available on Blu-ray and DVD from January 5th, 2016.