Amor sin control

'It's like trying to quit crack while the pipe is attached to your body' Stuart Blumberg is a director who takes chances (The Girl Next Door , The Kids Are All Right, Keeping the Faith). Using a screenplay he wrote in conjunction with actor Matt Winston he approaches a subject rarely touched upon (or even known about to the general public) – sex addiction – and with the very capable assistance of a superb cast of actors he brings it off. The film may disturb some, especially those easily offended by the degree of self indulgence that story addresses, but stay with this story to the end and be enlightened and touched by the triumph of the human spirit over seemingly insurmountable odds.

The story centers around three sex addicts who must attend 12 step meetings, have a sponsor, and refrain from onanism or frottage or viewing pornography, sharing their shortcomings at eh meetings of fellow addicts. Adam (Mark Ruffalo) is an environmental consultant whose has been 'sober' for five years and has as his sponsor Mike (Tim Robbins), a small business owner married to the supportive Katie (Jowly Richardson) with whom he has a disowned alcoholic son Danny (Patrick Fugit), and who is sponsor to the obese foolhardy voyeuristic frottage obsessed ER Doc Neil (Josh Gad) whose mother Roberta (Carol Kane) has no clue about her son's debilitating condition. The three men – Adam, Mike, and Neil - interact in needy ways and each faces a crisis he must address: Adam finally meets a girl to whom he can possibly relate, breast cancer survivor Phoebe (Gwyneth Paltrow); Mike must deal with his son Danny's return to the nest; Neil becomes tied to Dede (Pink) who is a sex addict of the first order and desperate to change. It all works in at times confusing ways, but always with a focus on the fragility of the addicted human being – no matter the source of dependency.

The film has its light moments, but it is certainly more of a drama than a comedy – except for the fact that 'all of life in the human comedy.' It is good to see a capable group take on a controversial subject and deliver it well.

Somewhere between Indy cinema and mainstream Hollywood as well as treading between comedy and drama, this is not an implication that it suffers from an identity crisis but more of an affirmation that genre boundaries do not have to be definite to produce an acceptable result.

The main corpus of the story is three sex addicts and their struggle to overcome it and it makes a point that a paramount factor in recovery is not so much the discipline to abstain from sexual stimulants but being surrounded by people who you can depend upon in the good as well as the bad days. In other words, community is paramount.

Overall, it is both a pleasant and poignant story that explores the isolation and darkness associated with this condition. A minus point would be the complete lack of background information on the illness although this is more than compensated in the battle these individual give not only to get better but to be accepted by others.

So a film that is both amusing with some is no little thing.

If you ever been to an addicts group, I reckon you all too well know the term "Thanks for sharing". And most of us (if not all of us), do have a tendency to drift into addiction. Some things are just too good to let go off. The movie has some very fine actors and many story lines that keep you excited and at the edge of your seat (if you get what the characters are about and feel for them, which I think the movie does a good job of putting us there).

It's best not to keep certain things secret and if it comes to addiction that is more than true. Obviously there are more than one sort of addiction and it's really good to see the characters interact in and around those addictions, but also family issues those will result in. There may be some flaws, but the movie has a heart and feels more than sincere in what it does

Review: For years, the subject matter about sex addiction has carried a certain stigma that someone is a pervert, but this movie proves otherwise. It shows that ordinary every day people with normal life's can be addicted to sex and that it's a hard addiction to deal with. That's what made the movie a joy to watch because this subject matter hadn't really addressed. The acting from the all star cast, was brilliant and they made the movie believable and enjoyable. Even Pink put in a great performance and her role was chosen well by the director. Each character shows how they deal with there addiction and the trouble that it can cause in there everyday life's. It's definitely one of those movies that will change peoples perception on the addiction and I'm glad that the director also showed that women can also suffer from this disease. In all, a great watch and one not to miss. Great Movies!

Round-Up: It's good to see Tim Robbins back on screen after being missing for a while. His role was also chosen well by the director, as well as Mark Ruffalo and Gwenyth Paltrow who showed the addiction from a different angle. It's a shame that movies like this don't get the big Hollywood treatment because it will be forgotten even though it is a great movie.

Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: $1million

I recommend this movie to people who are into there dramas and a group of people who suffer from sex addiction. 7/10

Thanks for Sharing looks into the world of addition and their support groups. How individuals create support networks to deal with problems. In this, the maid addition is sexual, these people can't stop having sex, but you soon discover it is more than the act but a real disease of obsessions. There is Neil (Josh Gad), the doctor who has been court ordered to seek treatment, Neil the overall good guy is overcoming his problems until he tries to connect the release of sex and emotional connection as he begins to date Phoebe (Gwyneth Partrow) and Dede (Pink) who can't relate with a man unless it deals with sex. Tim Robbins does an exceptional job of being the counselor leader as he deals with own home life turmoil with a drug addicted son. This movie is insightful of addiction and the difficulty of staying clean, no matter what your addition may be.