6 Balloons (2018) Reviews

• Pretty good, not incredible...but definitely authentic.

  merch102772018-04-13

  *Not REALLY a spoiler.* Coming from someone who has personally dealt with this issue, it is extremely true to life. I could see how a person who hasn't been on either end of the spectrum could be quick to judge films about addiction (for example, thinking "that wouldn't happen or she/he would never do that). But believe me, it does and they do. While this isn't the best film I've seen dealing with addiction, it is an amazing portrayal of how addiction is a family disease (especially w/codependence) and is so so brutal. Abbi Jacobson nailed her role, as did Dave Franco. As for the actual "film", I thought it was really well done. There's a kind of narrative throughout this that I liked a lot. I prefer a character study and good plot/story over a big budget, full of explosions and car chases movie. So if you're looking for that sort of thing you may not enjoy this as much as myself. So yes, definitely recommend:)

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• Review is Misleading

  smithers-742-1274382018-05-17

  The low review for this movie is so misleading. Yes, it could be considered underwhelming in terms of drama and action if that's what you're looking for. It isn't Trainspotting 3 and was never meant to be. It's focus was on emotion and the hold that drug use can have on a family. It was real and not pumped up for the sake of making it a more exciting movie. The performances, music, and story were fantastic. It's worth a watch. It will suck you in and really gets across the emotions that everyone in a family goes through when a member battles addiction.

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• Not Perfect - But Raw, Real, And Incredibly Tense

  neener37072018-04-06

  While it wasn't perfect, I can say from the personal experience of having spouse addicted to heroin, that this film honestly and truly captures the emotional horror and torment involved. Again its not perfect, but much of it is incredibly raw, emotional, and truthfully portrays drug addiction and how it affects people involved. The film centers around a woman who discovers her brother has relapsed on heroin, and embarks on a brutal journey to get him to a detox center, while at the same time dealing with her own life. The film perfectly portrays the duality of a person who has an addicted spouse, being emotionally torn between your own life and the spouse you love and want to get better. The tone is extremely thick with turmoil, suspense, and emotional intensity. Portraying a spouse who will literally do anything to help her sick brother. I can say from personal experience that this film gets very many things right, nails them even. Now, because I'm a adult white man, I was never really the demographic for Broad City, so I never watched it or wanted to. But I found Abby Jacobson's performance to be excellent, a woman torn between her life and her drug addicted brother, feeling in a void between the two. Dave Franco's performance as the drug addict is also authentically played, kudos to him. Some of the dialog between members of the family is pretty average and nothing special but what is special is the dialog and intensity between the brother addict and the sister. Their dialog is many of the things I said to my spouse who was addicted to heroin, as well as the way others talk to the brother and sister, the pharmacy scene hits it right on the nose, very accurate. So all in all I like the film even though not every aspect was perfect, I found it very raw and emotional and would highly recommend it as a watch.

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• This film will be underrated for lack of drama

  nash-617342018-04-09

  This film is so perfect in its simplicity. It does not have the sickness scenes of trainspotting or the sexy stab in the chest of pulp fiction. This is a very real story of one night, there is really minimal drama in the way that it has not been exaggerated for the screen. Abbie Jacobson is incredible, she is torn and loves her brother how most of us would. Dave Franco was great, honestly that was a surprise, he was endearing and normal but something had just gone wrong. It was interesting that you never really understood why this might have happened, there were nods to the overbearing mother, which I felt definitely impacted Abbie's character, but what was not made clear was where the daughters mother was. That little girl was also great, especially in the scene where they go to score. I really found the pharmacy scene uncomfortable and I'm not sure of what recovery support is available in America but in the UK the pharmacy's are desperate to be part of the recovery community so that was hard to see. Watching the impacts of these people life unfold over the night was really uncomfortable but not in a bad way, in the way that we should feel uncomfortable. I really liked the mindfulness narrative, it seemed to fit well. I thought this film was perfect, I am disappointed with the IMDB rating but this is it a film that glamourises drug use, it's a film about relationships.

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• Hits Home

  ymunoz19892018-04-20

  I am very picky with the indie genre because there's usually not much going on. And sometimes, writers try to be so "artistic" that there is no moral to the story, so it just blatantly stinks. This movie, though... It hit home. My brother, who is my best friend, is an addict. Throughout the film, I found myself relating to the main character and her relationships with the people around her, including her brother. Dave Franco is a great actor, just like his brother. He did spectacular. He portrayed his character so well. I'm usually used to seeing him in comedies. It just goes to show how great he is that he can play a more serious roll brilliantly as well.

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