Jeri Jacquin
Coming to Bluray/DVD and Digital from writer/director Eric Swinderman, Carmen DeFranco and Bayview Entertainment is the ENORMITY OF LIFE.
Casey (Breckin Meyer) is a man that is floating through life seemingly with no emotion attached to anything. Deciding that perhaps its time to check out, he is stopped by fate when a telephone call changes his life. A great-aunt decided that the only family member worth her small fortune is Casey.
Adding to his newfound life is Jess (Emily Kinney), a young woman who is having a rough time with a boss that makes her cringe until Casey steps in. Having a few bucks in his pocket starts bringing family out of the woodwork. Sister Missy (Debra Herzog) makes it clear that she is entitled to half of the money and now his own mother has gone missing.
Taking Jess to her home, Casey doesn’t find her but instead has a deep conversation with Jess about life, home and deep-rooted feelings about childhood. Offering to help Jess, Casey picks up young daughter Jules (Giselle Eisenberg) who puts him through the ringer with questions and has quirks of her own.
It doesn’t end there, Mom Dorothy’s psychiatric issues have surfaced in a serious way that causes Casey to make a financial death with sister Missy. On their way home, Jules has a serious episode wanting to go to a town where a school shooting took place to speak to a survivor. The crazy day has caused emotions to run high with Casey and Jess as unravel where they stand with each other after four days.
Meyer as Casey has had a hellacious life which explains his feelings about, well, nothing. Receiving a financial windfall does not change how he feels, in fact it just confuses him more. Meyer gives us a character that does not give the viewer anything, as if we needed anything else with the other chaos just happening one after the other. Yet, there is an acceptance by Meyer’s character that he already learned at a young age that no one is actually hearing what he has to say and certainly does not believe in moments of happiness. A fantastic job, truly.
Kinney as Jess has also seen her share of what life can do when your busy serving up food. Trying to do what is right by her daughter, she also realizes there is only so much you can do. Jess accepts her fate but, the difference between she and Casey is that Jess feels in the midst of her own tornado and invites Casey to merge his so they can go through it together. Kinney is lovely and understanding in this role.
Eisenberg as young Jules is a whirlwind of emotions. After seeing what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary, this character has an unhealthy addiction to facts and figures regarding mass shootings. Her mind can not get past the horror so that now the horror follows every step she takes. Eisenberg is wonderful and her reaction to Jules mindset is so well done and intense.
Herzog as Missy is that sister who can not be trusted with any responsibility. When Casey realizes that there is only one way to get her to do the right thing, it means a trust that is already on a razors edge.
Other cast includes Aubree Stone as Emily, Bryant Carroll as Randy, David Vegh as Detective Dunn, Allen O’Reilly as Abe Berkman, Katherine DeBoer as Connie Richman, Meg Rasmussen as young Dorothy, Jeff Timlin as Daniel Repas and Davis Aguila as Antonio.
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ENORMITY OF LIFE is a story of one man’s journey through a hell that he feels no one else can possibly understand. Believing from childhood that his life is a target for death, there is nothing that has happened from then to adulthood to change that feeling. Jess and Jules coming into his life is a view into how it all could be.
The twists and turns take the viewer on a chaotic journey but that is important if we are to understand the thought process and the jaw dropping ending. This is an emotional lesson on the frailty of human beings from the first scene to the end.
In the end – sometimes to love you have to let go!