rushknight This is a typical comedy/drama about marriage, love, life, and adultery. It's filmed well, acted reasonably well, and told in a clear style.But despite all of that, it just sort of sucks. For starters, it's not funny. It's sad. While the story is clear, it's not a good one by any means. In fact, it had me a little bit baffled. Were we supposed to feel sympathy for the main character? Or were we supposed to agree with everyone else' take that there is something wrong with him? The plot is simple. There is a man who's parents divorced in a very ugly fashion years previous, and made his life miserable growing up, resulting in a well-adjusted young man who is afraid to get married. It seems plausible, but it doesn't carry through well at all. Several characters in the film repeatedly tell the main character that he needs to address his issues. But frankly, I felt throughout the entire movie that it was EVERYONE ELSE that was broken.You have a ton of people doing bad things to each other with no thought at all about how it effects other people, and it's HIM that needs fixing? It didn't fly. Not even a little bit.If this movie succeeds in poking fun at anything, it would be that it spends a great deal of time mocking the institution of marriage. An action I felt was neither warranted nor funny.

themissingpatient Adam Scott plays Carter, a restaurant owner who has spent most of his life keeping the peace between his hateful and bitter divorced parents, played by Richard Jenkins and Catherine O'Hara, by keeping them away from one another. When Carter's younger brother, played by Clark Duke, gets engaged, Carter is asked to be the best man and help plan the wedding. This means trying to get their mother and father in the same room without starting a war. The stress of this task leads Carter to re-visit his childhood therapist, played by Jane Lynch, where he finds out she's not a therapist but an author who was doing research for her now best-selling book, Adult Children Of Divorce.Adam Scott has been around since the mid 90's but it wasn't until 2004 when his career really took off being cast in Martin Scorsese's film, The Aviator. It was in 2008, playing the evil older brother of Will Ferrell in Adam McKay's masterpiece (arguably the funniest film of all-time), Step Brothers, that Adam Scott's full potential as a comedic actor was finally noticed. A.C.O.D. re-unites him with Richard Jenkins, who played his step-father in Step Brothers, and Amy Poehler, who plays his wife on the sitcom, Parks and Recreation, yet here plays his mean-spirited step-mother. This will leave audiences to expect big laughs from A.C.O.D. as it's hard not to relate it to both Step Brothers and Parks and Rec, due to similar casting. Unfortunately, this will lead to disappointment.The film is co-written by award-winning writer/producer Ben Karlin, who was a head writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and writes for Modern Family. Between Karlin's talent and a large ensemble cast filled with big names, director Stu Zicherman had much to manage, especially being his directorial debut.The cast is excellent, especially Richard Jenkins and Catherine O'Hara. The real war going on here isn't between their characters in the film but between the drama and comedy that make up the story. The film seems to be trying to deliver a message that is lost, like a lot of potential laughs due to an imbalance. It's hard to tell whether this imbalance came from the script or from the inexperienced director.A.C.O.D. begins as an exciting laugh-out-loud comedy. As the film moves past the first 20 minutes, it starts taking itself too seriously and becomes more dramatic than humorous, which will let down the majority of it's audience.

Jimmy P I went into this film with an open mind. The film trailers played months ago, and they got a lot of theatre laughs, but then this film was slowly put out to the theatres and i saw low rating numbers on this site and i wasn't in a rush to see this film. I enjoyed the film as both a comedy and a drama.The center of the film is on Carter, the older Brother's response to reuniting his parents for the sake of his brother. This in turn brings back bad memories of a dysfunctional family, divorce, and a disrupted family nucleus. Not only is Carter forced to sift through his buried family core issues, but the whole family is brought into the abyss. I'm not sure what IMDb people were expecting, they usually get it right, but not on this one. I heard lots of audience laughs and sighs. There is a lot of wit and sarcasm instead of Hollywood cheap laughs. Adam Scott felt like a younger Kevin Spacey, I felt he did a great job of pulling off the role. This is certainly not a perfect film, but it is intelligent and fun.

hubin-1 A.C.O.D. is such a terrific film that it's difficult to believe that it's Zicherman's directorial debut. The screenplay, by Karlin and Zicherman, is remarkably clever and witty--combining humor with poignant insight to a very satisfying effect. Zicherman gets the pacing exactly right, showing faith in the intelligence of his audience by never belaboring a point. The characters are engaging and the acting is very great. If your an adult child of divorce or a divorced parent who worries about your children, you're likely to recognize something in this film. (When Carter goes through his parents' divorce papers, try to catch some of the petty, ridiculous allegations each makes.) In this film, you see revealed some painful truths about human nature and complex family relationships--always with humor and compassion. This is one of the best comedies I've seen.