Powerful

I wanted to but couldn't!

From my favorite movies..

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

A man is tasked with driving his embittered 80-year-old father-in-law cross country to be legally euthanized in Oregon, while along the way helping him rediscover a reason for living. Despite the terrific cast of well known and talented actors such as Frank Langella, Billy Crudup, Josh Lucas and Christina Applegate 'Youth in Oregon' is unfortunately a drama that simply doesn't work as much as it might hoped or even as much as i did either. The overall storyline felt weak and was all over the place as well plus Peltz's role was kinda annoying too. (3/10)

Some old guy wants to die and for some stupid reason he has to drive across country instead of flying and so his chauffeur is his son-in-law who doesn't like him. Is that about right? Add teenage daughter's jug pics, an absent son, a mother-in-law who is a professional wise-ass, and a shared room at motel and you have all of the ingredients for a lousy excuse for a drama-comedy—except there is nothing approaching humor. The problem is that humor needs to be mildly original or you are just listening to bad, old jokes. We've heard this one before.Every conversation was just people screaming at each other over completely petty matters. It gets so bad so quickly that I wanted to beat him to the assisted suicide except it's not legal here. My next option is to beat them all to death starting with grandpa. Because why would I want to spend a movie with such disagreeable people?Since the old sourpuss—and slightly abusive—curmudgeon and his punk son-in-law can't have an intelligent conversation we stop off to pick up his estranged gay son except their relationship is even more toxic than the others. There's more, folks, and it's all people screaming hateful things at each. No amount of the great American landscape could ever be enough to salvage this car wreck. If there was even one brief moment of intelligence and lucidity in this I missed it.There is a Swedish novel that is a bestseller these days called A Man Called Ove. It's about a miserable old jerfkoff, sort of like grandpa in this bomb. What saved the novel for me was the thick vein of sweetness which ran through the book, especially in the second part. This sweetness made me realize that this was what I hated so much about the TV series All in the Family when I was a kid. It was all people being horrible to each other with no soft spot. This movie could have used a heavy dose, either that or a real comedy writer to make all of the yelling and screaming funny.

So its a very good film that I saw at in New York at Tribeca. Great cast and direction but really its the story that is the star. Not implausible that the old guy is tired and wants to go to Oregon and end it. The concept of ending your own life when you want rather than having something bad happen to you from cancer heart attack etc ad nauseum is becoming in the zeitgeist. Its catching a wave as a discussion point versus the old dogma from the Catholic Church and other religions that its a big no no. So how people in a family deal with the concept of a loved one deciding to end his life is real. Was also in Me Before You but this one is way less Hollywood and much more real. Its just beginning of these type of stories in some for or another. So kudos to the writer director and the cast for bring the story to the screen

Greetings again from the darkness. This is one of those tough little indie movies that would fit right in at most film festivals. Directed by Joel David Moore and written by Andrew Eisen, the film has a few exceptional scenes, yet once it's over, it's pretty easy to just leave it behind. That shouldn't happen with a story dealing with a theme of death with dignity. Shouldn't there be a desire to talk about the issue, or at least spend some time in thought?Perhaps the reason this one isn't the gut-punch we expect is that while the central reason for the story is 80 year old Ray's (Frank Langella) desire to end life on his terms, the vast majority of screen time is devoted to the exceptionally dysfunctional family that surrounds him. It's not an "issue" movie, and dysfunctional family movies are about as common as superhero movies these days … we've become a bit numb.Ray and his wife Estelle (Mary Kay Place) are living with their daughter Kate (Christina Applegate), her husband Brian (Billy Crudup) and Kate and Brian's teenage daughter Annie (Nicola Peltz). It's a crowded house where emotions run high, voices are usually amped to 11, and Kate and Brian's marriage is stressed to the limit with responsibilities. Bad news at the doctor's office leads Ray to the crucial decision on his future. He announces this while giving the most uncomfortable birthday speech ever at dinner that evening … "I want to die." It's a terrific scene and each person's reaction is priceless – to the point where we almost wish it were in slow motion so as not to miss anything.Typically poor teenage judgment by daughter Annie means mother Kate stays at home for discipline, while Brian reluctantly agrees to drive Ray cross country to Oregon to find out if he qualifies under the mercy killing law. Estelle and her always present booze come along for the ride, but it's mostly the strained relationship between Ray and Brian that generate the fireworks. Along the way, they add Ray's estranged gay son Danny (Josh Lucas), as well as Brian's angry college age son Nick (Alex Shaffer). Once they reach Oregon, another wonderful scene/sequence occurs as Ray meets up with a longtime friend who has made the same decision. It's a well handled and well acted portion of the story.Ray's decision to hide his medical diagnosis from the family is the source of the most recent conflict, but there's a history in this family. Isn't that always the case? A lack of communication often causes even more issues than too much honesty. The abundance of dysfunction can't be offset by some peaceful bird-watching, and all of the frustration and anger prevents the necessary conversations on the more interesting topic … a reason to live vs. a desire to die. A slight re-focus would have taken more advantage of the terrific performance of Langella, and added some fun to the post movie discussion.