Director Sam Taylor-Johnson
Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton & Odessa Young
Rated TBC
Score 5/6
A Million Little Things hits cinemas on December 6
A young aspiring writer at the bottom of his addictions is interned in a facility center to face his traumatic past.
For those of you who might be interested A Million Little Pieces is adapted from book of the same name written by James Frey published in 2003. It should be noted that the book was originally released as a memoir and was later marketed as a semi-fictional novel, following accusations of literary forgery.
Personally I would have liked to have seen more effort by the filmmakers at the beginning of the film to get me to emotionally invest in the character of James Frey, who was portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Not enough was done to make me want to care if Frey succeeded or failed at rehab, that being said when I saw the scene in the hallway when Frey first arrived at the facility I knew I was in for a ride that was worth taking. I’m a fan of Charlie Hunnam’s work and he gave a decent performance, though I was a little surprised to see him cast in this.
Sam Taylor-Johnson is not a name I immediately think of when I think of directors. It should be noted that when I looked at her filmography it turned out that A Million Little Pieces was only her third feature film. Even with the lack of emotional investment A Million Little Pieces managed to win me over. Be warned this is the type of movie that will go for the emotional gut punch, this was done brilliantly through the performances of Billy Bob Thornton and Odessa Young. I also loved Giovanni Ribisi’s heartfelt performance as John. I have to admit I was a little surprised to see Dash Mihok cast in this, but that was probably because a couple of days earlier I had seen him in Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 Romeo + Juliet as Benvolio.
The final scene of A Million Little Pieces, its been awhile since I have found myself gushing about the impact of a specific scene in movie. But how it was acted by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and how it was shot had me saying “HELL YEAH”.