Infinitely Polar Bear

R

Released Jun 19, 2015

1h 27m

Comedy

Drama

List

83%

120 Reviews

Tomatometer

71%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

1978. While most fathers spend their days at work, CAM STUART (Mark Ruffalo) is more likely to be found mushroom-hunting, cooking elaborate meals, or working on one of his many half-completed projects. His family's wealth keeps his family just barely afloat, while Cam struggles to live with manic depression. When Cam has a manic breakdown that lands him in a mental hospital, his wife MAGGIE (Zoe Saldana) and their two young daughters, AMELIA and FAITH, are forced to leave their house in the country and move into a cramped apartment in Cambridge, where Maggie tries to find a decent job, with no luck. Broke, stressed, and overwhelmed, Maggie applies to business school and is accepted to Columbia University's MBA program. Seeing this as her chance to build a better life for their daughters, Maggie asks Cam to become the primary caregiver for the girls while she completes her degree in New York. After all, routine is what the doctor ordered and the girls miss their dad. Cam agrees, hoping to rebuild his family. But the two spirited girls are not interested in making things easy for him. With Maggie away in New York, Cam quickly realizes that he's in over his head. Over the course of the next 18 months, as Maggie rushes to complete her degree, he learns, through trial and a lot of error, how to take care of his precocious daughters as well as himself. After years of struggling to find his place in the world, Cam may finally have found where he fits in.

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Critics Consensus

Infinitely Polar Bear handles its thorny themes with a somewhat troublesomely light touch, but Mark Ruffalo's complex performance keeps the drama solidly grounded.

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Georgan G

What an unflinching look at mental illness and love! This movie touched me deeply. While all the acting was terrific, Ruffalo was perfection. Great film.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/25/23

Full Review

Gareth v

This movie is all about the ever likable Ruffalo who is the driving force behind this sweet & charming movie.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/20/23

Full Review

Late R

With sweet and heartfelt performances from Ruffalo and the two child actresses, all of whom have excellent chemistry, this is a touching film about mental illness that is determined to show a different side to things and challenge perceptions which is admirable and refreshing. However, maybe it's a bit too determined. It glosses right over lot of the darker, defining aspects of mental illness, treating them with a somewhat flippant attitude and practically refusing to give a balanced account. That being said, since this is a personal story to writer/director Maya Forbes (it's based on her own childhood with a mentally ill parent), I'm sure that was on purpose, but it does mean her film doesn't ring quite true. Nevertheless, as long as you bear in mind that there are two sides to every story and you're not quite getting the whole picture here, then it's difficult not to be pulled in by the welcoming themes of patience, acceptance, love and family.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/09/22

Full Review

steve d

Sweet story with some great performances. It tackles an important issue lightly but quite skillfully.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A film concerning a health diagnosis complicates the involved bonds and relationships that determines the heartening strength which the cast did just that, particularly Ruffalo's, while reaching up to a definitive meaning with humorous bits to show familial love still endure. (B+)

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Moving and funny with exellent performances especially from the 2 "daughters" . A family love story

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

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Maya Forbes

Director

Mark Ruffalo

Cam

Zoe Saldana

Maggie

Imogene Wolodarsky

Amelia

Ashley Aufderheide

Faith

Beth Dixon

Pauline Stuart

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Emma Myers

indieWire

Cynics may scoff at the fact that Infinitely Polar Bear glosses some of the filmmaker's darker memories, but they'll need an ice bucket handy if they intend to avoid its warmth altogether.

Rated: B+

Jun 20, 2016

Full Review

Tom Long

Detroit News

Ruffalo is generally wonderful at finding the tone and mood of a character and holding to it; here he has to bounce about, but again he latches onto a consistent energy that makes Cameron a singular life force.

Rated: B

Jul 28, 2015

Full Review

Calvin Wilson

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Infinitely Polar Bear" is a much-needed reminder that the realm of film is still a place to encounter something other than comic-book scenarios.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jul 23, 2015

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

Forbes stays true to the heart and soul of her movie, and her connection to the subject matter shows itself in the pleasing end results.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 22, 2022

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

Ruffalo lives into the character of Cam with a level of honesty and vulnerability that won't much surprise those familiar with Ruffalo's indie work.

Rated: 3.5/4.0

Sep 12, 2020

Full Review

Stephen Carty

Radio Times

Ruffalo is incredibly charming, and while Cam's behaviour is often erratic, he is also sweet, funny and endearing. Happily, the same can be said about the film.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 13, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

1978. While most fathers spend their days at work, CAM STUART (Mark Ruffalo) is more likely to be found mushroom-hunting, cooking elaborate meals, or working on one of his many half-completed projects. His family's wealth keeps his family just barely afloat, while Cam struggles to live with manic depression. When Cam has a manic breakdown that lands him in a mental hospital, his wife MAGGIE (Zoe Saldana) and their two young daughters, AMELIA and FAITH, are forced to leave their house in the country and move into a cramped apartment in Cambridge, where Maggie tries to find a decent job, with no luck. Broke, stressed, and overwhelmed, Maggie applies to business school and is accepted to Columbia University's MBA program. Seeing this as her chance to build a better life for their daughters, Maggie asks Cam to become the primary caregiver for the girls while she completes her degree in New York. After all, routine is what the doctor ordered and the girls miss their dad. Cam agrees, hoping to rebuild his family. But the two spirited girls are not interested in making things easy for him. With Maggie away in New York, Cam quickly realizes that he's in over his head. Over the course of the next 18 months, as Maggie rushes to complete her degree, he learns, through trial and a lot of error, how to take care of his precocious daughters as well as himself. After years of struggling to find his place in the world, Cam may finally have found where he fits in.

Director: Maya Forbes
Producer: J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Austin Stark, Ruth Mutch, Noah Millman, Mark Ruffalo, Jackie Kelman Bisbee, Danny Rifkin, Tom Valerio, Richard Rifkin
Screenwriter: Maya Forbes
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Paper Street Films, Park Pictures
Rating: R (Language)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 19, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.4M
Runtime: 1h 27m

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