Gigantic

Saw Gigantic, didn't understand it. Here's what happens: Brian is 28 and works as a luxury mattress salesman. He desperately wants a Chinese baby. He meets Harriet (AKA "Happy") whom he falls in love with. She's a rich girl who keeps her emotions hidden behind a wall of socially acceptable quirk and un-inflected declarative statements. Her dad is some kind of graceless plutocrat and her mom is absent and maybe slightly crazy. Brian's dad is a delightful old loon who makes grand speeches and is confused by the lack of bourbon around a modern office. He has a retiring (also elderly) mother and two brothers that look twice his age and behave more like uncles to him. Somehow everyone knows how to speak some combination of French, Chinese, and Japanese and for some damn reason Brian is being hunted (Yes, hunted. With a gun.) by some homeless guy. There's also a guy who does psych experiments on lab-rats who Brian is friends with.

The preceding makes it sound like this movie is a crazy mess but most of it is taken up with a will-they-or-won't-they romance between Brian and Harriet. Long calm talks are held between quick dinner-parties and various inexplicable scenes (in one scene Brian's brother discusses the institution of marriage with his his Japanese friends as they all enjoy a relaxing hand job together) I kind of don't care about their romance unfortunately because both people are completely withdrawn. Why does Brian want a Chinese baby? Nobody really knows or cares. They have guesses and kind of accept that he probably has benign intentions but he never explains (or is even asked, I think.) Harriet is pretty transparently scared by real life and isn't sure if she just wants to accept being an unemployed flibbertigibbet or actually make something of herself. Poor little rich girl.

There's thematic reasons to believe this is a movie about going with the flow vs fighting back, but not strong ones. There's also strong indications that the mysterious hunting bum is imaginary which I don't know what to make of. One possible explanation is that this film is just messy for the sake of messiness and has no real meaning beyond "what a bunch of strange stuff, huh?" This is dissatisfying to me but I can't think of anything else. Well, off to read some real criticism I guess.

Edit: looks like the real critics have largely also thrown in the analytic towel. Too bad. Oh well.