The Mend

2014

1h 51m

Comedy

Drama

List

78%

32 Reviews

Tomatometer

50%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

Mat and Alan, estranged brothers, reunite just before Alan leaves for a vacation with his girlfriend. When he returns sooner than expected without his girlfriend, Alan finds Mat and his family have moved into his apartment.

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Critics Consensus

Bolstered by an outstanding performance from Josh Lucas, The Mend finds fresh insights in a familiar tale of familial dysfunction.

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Audience Member

This romantic and familial drama feels like a throwback to the 70s. The men have a thin veneer of swaggering machismo that covers a wounded child while the women are relegated to be their coaches/therapists. Fortunately writer/director John Margary's dialogue and direction covers these tropes/cliches in a fresh coat of paint. He recalls early Scorsese and Altman in an exciting way.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

"The Mend" is a pretentious, unfunny, self-important indie film about two dysfunctional brothers who never resolve their issues. This film has nothing to say and meanders onward drunkenly through empty scenes and situations and no amount of big words, sophisticated music, or hipsters within a scene will actually make "The Mend" seem intelligent. It's a real drag.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Being abstract and weird is certainly not something a lot of people would like, but that's the sort of tone that The Mend works in. On one hand, it is telling a mostly simple, straight-forward tale of two brothers and their dysfunction, but on the other hand giving that description of the film would not give it enough credit at all. I read a review calling it a very confident debut feature, and that it is. Not many fresh filmmakers would attempt to hint at the pacing and balanced tone that this does, and in that respect, props need to be given in different ways. That's not to say that all of it works though, since there are instances where more restraint may have been appreciated. Nonetheless, very intriguing film

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

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Audience Member

Didn't finish watching. VERY slow.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

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Audience Member

This is a movie I thoroughly did not get anything out of. I feel like with a better director this could have really shone. I liked aspects of it-I liked the weirder abstract sounds or emotions- but in the end it felt meandering, distant and ultimately empty. Like the party guest who waxes just poetically enough to drag you into conversation until it slowly dawns on you that they're just stoned and rambling without substance, I could have spent my two hours elsewhere.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

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Audience Member

One of the best of the year. I don't even love all of it, but I love all of it, if that makes any sense. What a movie.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

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John Magary

Director

Josh Lucas

Mat

Stephen Plunkett

Alan

Lucy Owen

Andrea

Cory Nichols

Ronnie

Mickey Sumner

Farrah

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Elissa Suh

StageBuddy.com

The Mend lacks true mayhem or insight, resulting in a repeating scherzo without a coda.

Mar 16, 2020

Full Review

Soren Andersen

Seattle Times

"The Mend" meanders from situation to situation, turning itself in the process into a wallow of dysfunction. And a claustrophobic wallow at that.

Rated: 1.5/4

Sep 10, 2015

Full Review

J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

Sharp dialogue and strong performances tumble around this ill-defined story like shoes in a dryer.

Sep 10, 2015

Full Review

Daniel Barnes

Dare Daniel

An NYC-based comedy of ill manners that exudes weird, nervous energy from the opening seconds and never relents. I couldn't shake this film - it persisted in my mind like a stubborn houseguest.

Rated: 4.5/5

Apr 12, 2019

Full Review

Kathy Fennessy

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

It's as if Ingmar Bergman and the Safdie brothers got together to make a movie. However you define it, it's quite wonderful

Aug 21, 2017

Full Review

Nick Newman

The Film Stage

It's a consistently wonderful, occasionally astonishing, deservedly moving piece of film craft layered on top of a screamingly funny screenplay.

Rated: A-

Feb 22, 2016

Full Review

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Synopsis

Mat and Alan, estranged brothers, reunite just before Alan leaves for a vacation with his girlfriend. When he returns sooner than expected without his girlfriend, Alan finds Mat and his family have moved into his apartment.

Director: John Magary
Producer: Robert Fernandez, Michael Hacker, Susannah Hacker
Screenwriter: John Magary
Production Co: Moxie Pictures
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 26, 2016
Runtime: 1h 51m

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