DVD Review: Dedication

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Dedication (2007)–***
DVD Review

I’ve often described movies as bipolar, but never in such a positive manner as I would describe Dedication. Seriously unhinged and better for it, this debut film by director Justin Theroux stirs together the best parts of Woody Allen circa Annie Hall to create a modern love-story for a generation of people who are trying too hard to be jaded.

Dedication opens in an adult film theater where two children’s book authors, Rudy (Tom Wilkinson) and Henry (Billy Crudup), are searching for inspiration. It doesn’t take long for Rudy to come up with the idea of a beaver, and the long-time collaborators are off to the races. The book is a huge success – a monster hit, in fact – but that doesn’t improve Henry’s bleak outlook on life. Rudy does all that he can to encourage his young partner to enjoy living and find a girl, a nice girl.

Rudy’s earthly support comes to an end when the aging illustrator discovers that he has terminal brain cancer. With only the memory of Rudy (and a rather antagonistic one at that) to guide him, Henry is more lost than ever. His compulsive behavior gets worse. His anxiety is at an all time high. And, worse, he has another beaver book due to his publisher. The publisher hires Lucy (Mandy Moore) to work with him as his new illustrator, and she might just be the one to bring him out of his overpowering funk.

Fortunately for the audience, we benefit from Henry’s deep depression. Writer David Bromberg delivers a quotable script with devilish, wounding one-liners from the dreary protagonist. With Henry’s words coming out of Crudup’s mouth, we get a character who is more like Jack Nicholson’s Melvin in As Good As It Gets than the expected Zach Braff in Garden State.

Yet, as is expected in even the darkest romantic comedy, Henry perseveres to make a transformation when he develops feelings for Lucy. Lucy, played by Moore with a natural charm and down-to-earth attitude, isn’t necessarily compatible with Henry. She’s not even a complementary partner, but she’s the nice girl Rudy wanted Henry to be with. More for Rudy than himself, Henry woos her in his own awkward way.

“We communicate nowadays through damage,” Rudy tells Henry early on in the film. The impact of this line on Henry, though not immediately apparent, is profound. It carries the film. We don’t know much about Henry’s past other than the occasional allusion to issues with his parents. There are also some manic moments, where Henry’s negativity bursts out in a fountain of humorous inanities, but Henry’s struggle to do right by Rudy mellows the film at just the right moments. Rudy is Henry’s lithium, and we could all learn to be a little more balanced if we just listened to Rudy.

Dedication, directed by Justin Theroux, starring Billy Crudup, Mandy Moore and Tom Wilkinson, is available on DVD Tuesday, Feb. 12.