The End of Love movie review & film summary (2013)

With his real-life son joining him, Webber is not paired with a performer in the usual sense. Lively Isaac is simply goes about his existence while a film is expertly assembled around him. As a result, skilled DP Patrick Lucien Cochet needs only to capture the conversation between Webber and his boy. Their interactions evade real-time; they unfold almost as a crystallized memory — compressing laughter, tears, and wonder into a sensory collage — and as both character and director, Webber truly displays his talent.

The half-improv approach is a risky one, especially as Judd Apatow has made intra-family line-ups almost a special effect, a shorthand promising some form of parental truth. But there's never a gimmicky statement found in Webber's work, only a series of confident questions.

Webber's clarity extends outside the home. An early audition with Amanda Seyfried (one of many cameos) has the ring of first-hand embarrassment. As Isaac yells excitedly in the corner, the rest of the people in the room sit in excruciating silence.

As a single parent named Lydia, Shannyn Sossaman ("The Rules of Attraction," "Road to Nowhere") radiates warmth. This is the most natural and welcome performance I've seen from her. Though her and Mark's relationship begins predictably, it evolves as naturally as the one between father and son.

However, the film weakens in its second half: Mark's attempt at a night out finds a young Hollywood cast (Aubrey Plaza, Michael Angarano, Jocelin Donahue) at Michael Cera's cavernous mansion. Isaac is left with a Craigslist-sourced sitter -- along with this part of the film.

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