Gigantic (2009, Vivendi Entertainment)
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Matt Aselton’s film Gigantic is a quirky little movie with a great deal of charm and plenty of heart. Eccentric would be a good adjective to describe this film co-written by Aselton and Adam Nagata. There are plenty of reasons to check out this independent film, in particular the splendid cast and the entrancing cinematography by Peter Donahue, who shot on film instead of the indie trend of HD, adding to the movie’s appeal.

Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, There Will be Blood) stars as Brian, a mattress salesman from a large family who is in the process of adopting a child from China. Quiet, reserved, and intellectual, Brian also has a demon pursuing him around the streets of New York in the form of Zach Galifianakis, who appears randomly throughout the film in different guises, trying to beat up or even kill Brian. One afternoon, Al Lolly, a boisterous, rich man (John Goodman) comes to purchase a mattress. After some great back and forth between Brian and Al, a mattress is chosen and Al tells Brian he will send his daughter down to pay for it. Enter Zooey Deschanel, the reigning queen of indie pics, as Happy. She’s a bit misguided and off course in life. When she arrives to make the payment, she promptly falls asleep on the mattress for several hours. Brian is immediately smitten. Slowly, a relationship builds and the two characters begin to fall in love. (more…)