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Relationships aren’t easy to maintain. They require time and effort—not to mention a whole lot of love, sacrifice, and flexibility. In writer/director Maya Forbes’s autobiographical indie dramedy, Infinitely Polar Bear, a lovably dysfunctional family faces one challenge after another as they fight to make their relationships work.
Infinitely Polar Bear stars Mark Ruffalo as Cameron Stuart, a manic-depressive husband and father who’s taken away from his family after a manic episode threatens their safety. As he struggles to get better, his wife, Maggie (Zoe Saldana), struggles to support the family while raising their two energetic young girls. In order to improve their way of life, Maggie decides to attend business school in New York—but that means that Cameron will have to stay behind in Boston and learn to be a responsible full-time dad.
More than just another wacky comedy about an immature man-child who can’t seem to grow up, Infinitely Polar Bear tells a challenging yet strangely charming story about mental illness, about parents and children, about husbands and wives—and about doing what it takes to make it all work. The Stuarts definitely aren’t the typical movie family with the typical movie-family problems—and it’s that unusual family dynamic that makes the film fascinating.
There are a number of issues at play in this family dramedy, ranging from mental illness to gender roles to interracial marriage—though the story doesn’t really delve into the depths of any of these challenges. Most of the family’s issues get little more than the occasional mention, while the film’s main focus remains on Cameron’s ongoing struggle to overcome his illness and be the husband and father that his family needs. Even then, it generally concentrates on the more entertaining manic phases—on Cameron’s obsessions, his rambling stories, and his eccentric adventures with the kids. The darker moments are there, too, but they’re brief and much less pronounced. Yet while the film merely scratches the surface of the story, it offers an intriguing glimpse into the dysfunction and devotion of one refreshingly real family.
And at the center of it all is Ruffalo, a talented actor who gives a remarkable performance, navigating the ups and downs, the highs and lows, with reckless abandon. Cameron’s disorder causes him to run the full gamut of emotions—and to take each emotion to extremes. From euphoria to rage, Ruffalo throws himself into this challenging role, allowing the story to spin and turn and revolve around one awkward, unreliable, yet entirely endearing character.
Infinitely Polar Bear may not tell the whole story of this family’s struggle, but it does tell a sweet and messy and tragically funny story about facing the challenges and finding what works.
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