The Fundamentals Of Caring

UK Release Date. 24 June 2016
Certification. 15
Running Time. 1 hour 37 mins
Director. Rob Burnett
Cast. Jennifer Ehle, Megan Ferguson, Selena Gomez, Craig Roberts, Paul Rudd.
Rating. 50%

Review.

Netflix acquired The Fundamentals Of Caring's global distribution rights following the film's premiere at The 2016 Sundance Film Festival.

Like so many of the Sundance Film Festival favourites - Little Miss Sunshine, The Way Way Back, Me and Earl And The Dying Girl, Captain Fantastic and The Peanut Butter Falcon - The Fundamentals Of Caring is a heartwarming piece, earnest in tackling such topics as disability, depression, fear, grief, love and heartbreak. But Rob Burnett's comedy-drama is beyond predictable.

Based on Jonathan Evison's book, The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, the film sees one-time novelist, Ben Benjamin (Paul Rudd) retrain as a carer. His first client, following the completion of a six-week training course, is Trevor (Craig Roberts), an acerbic 18-year-old with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. 

In the flimsiest of plots, Ben and Trevor embark on a road trip to visit America's Lamest Roadside Attractions. Director, Burnett missed an opportunity in only documenting two such attractions - Rufus, the World's Biggest Bovine and The World's Deepest Pit. Without even leaving the city, the pair could have visited Seattle's Gum Wall, before journeying onward to Nebraska’s Carhenge or the Barbed Wire Museum, in Texas. For the film is salvaged, just about, by the chemistry between Paul Rudd and Craig Roberts. Rudd's natural warmth and rascal-like charm in particular outweigh the over-reliance on clichés and tropes.

While both characters have their own demons to address, this is Ben's story more so than Trevor's. But The Fundamentals Of Caring is an overly familiar tale of catharsis and redemption that is sadly, immediately forgettable.