Review of The Details (2012) by M G — 27 Nov 2012

"I don't mean to hurt you telling you this. I'm just trying to tell you the truth for a change.".

Jeff is a nice guy on the surface. Underneath is a brewing basterd who may be getting a head start on his mid life crisis at an early age. He has a wife, Nealy, for whom he's shared 10 happy or so years with and they have a son. He works as a doctor, has good friends and is good with the community. Lately though, Jeff has been frequently getting his jolly johnson off on internet porn. His reason for this is due in part that his wife doesn't give him any. One time she caught his intenet activities on his computer and after the confrontation make up sex was offered. That would be the last time their sexual activities were consummated and since then the internet porn commences.

Now the details are meant to be followed as such: some sleeping pills, a house plant, a kidney, an adult internet site, a transaction at a bank and a plate of cheese and salumi. These are important parts in the story, but only make up what Jeff is trying to figure out where the problem really lies. It could have started when both him and his wife decided to have a 2nd child. An expansion to their home so that their new little bundle of joy could have it's own nursery. The construction would bother their wacky neighbor Lila.

A small act of kindness to soothe the construction woes in the form of a house plant would overwhelm Lila, who is a lonely older woman who loves her cat. She tries so very desperately to get him into bed. She confides in him that she can't sleep some nights and he offers her some sleeping pills. Before too long they engage in coitus over Lila's dead cat. Her grief wants to be fucked away, but this choice of sleeping with a crazy bitch could only mean trouble down the road for him.

Some raccoons were making a ruckus over the sod laid out in their backyard. Turns out they love the worms that are buried underneath. Those little buggers with their tiny hands, ripping out the freshly laid grass, getting into to shit and causing chaos. He tries to poison the little assholes and that's how Lila's cat died. Sad turn events, but they keep getting bigger due to Jeff's constant immorality. He digs his own grave because of every choice he makes leads him more and more down the seventh circle of hell.

Infidelity is a big part in this tale of absent morality. I think a critique on the perils of sleeping with other people when you're married is a bit overrated, but this one seemed to make it a little unconventional and dark. I'm reminded of 'Crimes & Misdemeanors'. Particularly the Martin Landau scenes where he hires a hitman to take out his mistress. This film, as well, deals with a similar scenario, but in a more creepy way than I ever would have expected.

This was a pleasant surprise of a movie. It delves not into the details really, but into Jeff. He isn't a moral man, never was. Sometimes you never know who you're really dealing with until they stop and share it. All of it. I couldn't get enough of this movie as it went on. The cast was great and Toby Maguire does a stand up job, but it would have to go to Laura Linney who played the crazy Lila as the big attraction in the film. Nice script, direction and just plain darkness make this film a different escape from suburban life. Love & Marriage...and the shit in between. Oh Memories are certainly made of this. :).