The Angriest Man in Brooklyn Review

I haven't been giving recent comedies a chance lately as I believe I let the lack of quality from the comedies I have already seen cloud my judgement when it comes to the future comedies. However, this doesn't mean that I don't like giving new movies a chance. One of the movies I had on my list to try out was The Angriest Man in Brooklyn. The trailer captured my attention as the main character somehow resembled me. Oh yea I am a hot tempered girl, sorry about that. Life does that to you.

So I finally got a chance to see this movie and I must admit that I am positively surprised by how enjoyable it really was. It was very funny when it needed to be while being overly dramatic at the same time especially towards the end. It wasn't an exceptional movie by any means and to be perfectly honest, you won't be missing out on a lot if you decide to pass this movie. But I still think it was a decent one.

The Angriest Man in Brooklyn centres around Henry Altmann (Robin Williams), an unhappy and a really angry man who has a very long list of the things he hates, just like me. One day he goes to the hospital to get the results for his brain scan and finds out from Dr. Gill (Mila Kunis) that he has a brain aneurysm. When he pushes the doctor to give him specifically how much time he has left, Dr. Gill tells him that he only has 90 minutes left to live but of course she is not in any position to actually know about that because it is not her field as she was merely filling in for another doctor. In a panicked state and for fear of running out of time before he makes amends, instead of getting admitted Henry rushes out of the hospital to make peace with his son and wife and to say goodbye to all the people he has been rude and unforgiving to in the past. However, his condition is worse than what Dr. Gill initially thought as Henry might drop dead at any second especially if he is to get angry which would lead to an increased blood pressure. Thus Dr. Gill decides to go on a city-wide search in order to find Henry to bring him back to the hospital.

I found the acting above average in this movie. Robin Williams was impeccable of course there is absolutely no doubt there. I particularly enjoyed Peter Dinklage's performance as Henry's kind and caring brother. Well is there any movie out there that Peter Dinklage isn't good in? I don't think so. Melissa Leo as Henry's wife and Hamish Linklater as his son have both done more than respectable jobs in the limited screen time they were given. But I just didn't enjoy Mila Kunis' performance and that's why I said the acting was above average. 

She wasn't absolutely horrible or anything, she only shined a wee bit during some of her emotional scenes but other than that she was just lacklustre or just plain bad. Maybe her character might be a reason for that. For one she is having an affair with a married man. Then she is so unhappy that she is getting high while her patients are trying to "patiently" wait for her to come and examine them. She keeps giving bad news over and over again to her patients but she acts as if it were HER that life has been the most unkind to. A very pretty young successful doctor who is that unhappy? Maybe her character needed more background to put it into a better context but right now it just wasn't believable enough for me. The character definitely needs a rewrite and I would have preferred a different actress to play the part. Though it still wouldn't matter even if the character was portrayed very well as it was just poorly written.

As far as characters go I could definitely understand where Henry's anger stems from. SPOILER he lost his son in a hunting accident. While I think karma is a bitch (if you believe that sort of thing, I don't) and I just can't feel sorry for someone who died while trying to kill off animals, I at least understand Henry's frustration at life because he lost a child and his second son decided to pursue a career in dancing, despite his strong opinions against it, instead of joining the family business. At least this scenario is more believable than Dr. Gill's.

Especially towards the end, there are some strong messages the movie is trying to convey. It's about how life is so short and how we shouldn't waste it away with anger, frustration, sadness and so on and we should try to take happiness wherever we can find it even if it's in the least hopeful of situations. We should also treat others with respect and shouldn't be afraid of saying "I love you" to a person. As Henry asks Dr. Gill what she would do if she had 90 minutes to live, Dr. Gill says something like she would find a way to be happy and Henry answers; "Why don't you?" I think this should pretty much sum up the whole movie for anyone. We shouldn't wait for death to be imminent for us to take control of our lives and to make it mean something and we should also make the most of what and who we already have in our lives. (My mum would be proud if she heard me say these things...)

The Angriest Man in Brooklyn wasn't exceptional by any means; however, it still was a good movie that had some incredibly funny moments that will certainly make you laugh. It might also get you to reflect on yourself, your view of life and how you treat others. It didn't do that to me though, I'm still the same old unhappy, angry and grumpy me ;) If I had to rate this movie I'd give it 3 out of 5. Enjoy!