Thanks for Sharing

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Release Date: October 4th 2013

A romantic comedy that brings together three  characters who are learning to face a challenging and often confusing world as they struggle together against a common demon: sex addiction.

Director: Stuart Blumberg (The Kids Are All Right, The Girl Next Door (Writer))

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Gad, Joely Richardson, Patrick Fugit, Pink

Addiction, especially sex addiction, is an taboo subject. Anyone who hasn't experienced it will never know what it's like, and probably make a mockery of it. Addicted to sex? Surely that's just an excuse?

Stuart Blumberg, with his first major directorial role, shows us how serious it can be, with a comedic edge that borderlines on the mockery. This can be seen through the three main couples and their backgrounds.

Adam (Ruffalo), 'sober' (as they say) for over five years, is encouraged by his mentor, Mike (Robbins) to put himself out there and start a new relationship. He meets Phoebe (Paltrow), a health fanatic who's had her own troubled past, but the difference between them is one opens up, the other one does not. Three guesses who?

Mike not only mentors Adam, but a bunch of other addicts, alcoholics included. He may have been/be a repressed addict too, but makes up for that by helping everyone else but his son, Danny (Fugit), an ex-drug addict himself, 9 months sober. He's not just cold towards him, he's also in denial that he's clean and on the road to recovery.

Neil (Gad) is a skilled doctor who gets the sack because of his addiction by getting caught for aiming a secret camera up a colleagues' skirt. His inability to chuck away his vast stash of porn tapes makes it hard for him to overcome his addiction. He becomes buddies with unlikely but surprisingly capable actress Pink as Dede, whose addiction lands her in more trouble than she wants.

The acting is at it's finest. There is little to point out and a lot to enjoy from the characters. Mark Ruffalo and Josh Gad stand out the most, the first goes through all the motions, losing his grip on things as his relationship with Phoebe plummets, the latter just a joy to watch.

The funniest parts of Thanks for Sharing that are probably the most memorable is whenever Neil is doing something funny at our expense because of his weight, e.g. riding a bike because he's not allowed to use the subway or running flat out to help Dede due to being stuck in heavy traffic.

Overview: Not a bad effort from Blumberg. Keeps you interested all the way through. Proving not all stories have a 'happy ever after'.