The Fundamentals of Caring

Netflix

       Novels about teenagers disabled or dying have become hugely popular lately. Looking at books like "The Fault in Our Stars," "The Beginning of Everything," and "Wonder," it's clear that the way to engage with teenaged readers is to show differently abled people in a positive light. In that same vein comes this Netflix film, based on the book "The Revised Fundamentals of Caring," by Jonathan Evison.

 The story follows caregiver Ben (Rudd) as he recovers from a personal tragedy that has left him unable to write or understand his pending divorce. He meets disabled teen Trevor (Roberts), a Welsh teenager with a morbid sense of humor and a sailor's mouth, and they each help one another cope with their issues. Trevor is fascinated with world oddities, and Ben proposes a road trip to see them all, and along the way they run into Dot (Gomez), a lovable hitchhiker. As dramedies go, this is a good one, fusing together the issues of living with muscular dystrophy and being a teenager.

Craig Roberts has been one to watch since his great turn in Richard Ayoade's "Submarine," and currently he is both acting and directing in a lot of great films and British television. He and Gomez have sparkling chemistry onscreen, and it's a pity that she doesn't act more. Between this and "Spring Breakers," Gomez has shown serious artistic growth in her acting choices in the past five years, which is truly amazing. Rudd is reserved yet charming, in the way that only Paul Rudd can pull off. He and Roberts are great together, playing off of each other's insecurities and tragic backstories.

 The weakest part of the plot is probably Ben's issues with his dead child. Not to belittle the grief and pain of losing a child, but it's not needed in this film. Ben could have had any other form of pain in his past and it would have been so much better. It can be argued that having that loss of a child creates a greater bond between Ben and Trevor, but really it's just added to make Ben seem more poignant and heartbreaking as a character. The child isn't even really mentioned throughout, and the flashback to his death is pointless and unnerving in a lazy way.

 Overall I find this to be a sweet and funny film, with themes that are important for teens and adults alike, but there's nothing new to the telling of the story. It is great to see a character with a disability handled in such a thoughtful way, but again, having that addition to the story doesn't mean it's doing anything altogether new or revolutionary.