The Fundamentals of Caring surprised me for a couple of reasons. First of all, even though they started off great with Beasts of No Nation, Netflix has not made very good movies lately. With two bad Adam Sandler comedies and a mediocre Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon sequel, I started to wonder whether they were going to redeem themselves movie-wise. On top of that, this movie stars Selena Gomez, who hasn't made any good movies despite being relatively easy to look at.
Netflix, you have been redeemed, because this was an exemplary film with great acting from Paul Rudd and very likable characters. This was a fun movie to watch what with there being dark humor and heartwarming exchanges between the main trio. Speaking of which, all of the three actors were great! As I said before, Paul Rudd took the cake for me. He stole the majority of his scenes in the film, which again solidifies his talent for dramatic roles and not just comedic. Craig Roberts made me laugh multiple times throughout the runtime with the delivery of his lines. I have not heard of him and am looking forward to more roles in the future. And yes, Selena Gomez actually gave a well executed performance! I have nothing against her, it's just that after seeing clips of the movie Getaway I was skeptical. There is an appearance of Bobby Cannavale in this movie that I quite enjoyed also.
If you are looking for a movie completely purged of clichés, than this may not be the one for you. The backstory does help you feel for the characters, but has been seen in various other films.There is also a distinct lack of obstacles, but this does not deter the film from working its magic.
The previous paragraph is basically all I found wrong with this film, and I was just looking for things to nitpick on. If you are looking for a good film to watch with your family on Netflix, The Fundamentals of Caring is perfect, and it is a shame that The Do-Over is significantly more popular than this gem.
I give The Fundamentals of Caring 8/10 stars.
P.S. Watching this with your family might be a problem because this does have a decent amount of language. This is in no means A Christmas Story; it's more of a Rain Man type film.
