Infinitely Polar Bear Review

Bear With Me Here

Setting the events of Infinitely Polar Bear in 1978 is a clever idea, since it allows for all of the characters in the story to be lost in one way or another. Cameron (Mark Ruffalo), who lives with bi-polar disorder, has to grapple with the fact that people are still just discovering news ways to treat and handle his disorder. His wife, Maggie (Zoe Saldana), meanwhile has the can-do spirit that drove the 70's feminist movement while facing workplace sexism.

That's not to say struggles with handling mental disorders or sexism don't exist in the modern age, but gazing at how those two endeavors fared in this specific year does show challenges specific to that time period, especially the idea of a man being a stay-at-home father. That man, as you might guess, is Cameron, who Maggie entrusts with their children during the week while she goes to New York to go to college.

In the wrong hands, such heavy topics that generated enormous strife for countless individuals both back then and in the modern era could be utilized for storytelling that has all the depth of a Hallmark card, but luckily, director and writer Maya Forbes takes an unflinching look at the characters and their ordeal. I'm especially pleased with how Cameron is used, as unlike other cinematic characters with mental disorders, his symptoms don't vanish once he takes a pill. No, his bipolar disorder and all the tendencies that come with it stick around for the entirety of the story, a bold choice I truly appreciated.

Similarly, Maggie and her crusade to provide a better life for her kids leaves her with distinct goals and ambitions in the film separate from Cameron, which I also found to be refreshing, She doesn't exist solely to be his arm candy or sex object, she's an individual with her own hassles to work out within the context of the plot. Saldana makes her characters complications feel palpable, and seeing her bounce off of Ruffalo (whom she has great chemistry with) is at once sweet and poignant,

Thanks to it taking that sort of realistic approach to Cameron, the moments of triumph, anger or woe resonate all the more. Frankly, some of those moments would work better if the plot didn't occasionally feel episodic (the structure of having the movie take place over five seasons leaves the movie with some extraneous moments), but predominantly, Infinitely Polar Bear treats it cast as actual human beings and not excuses to create an idealized version of family life.