A modern version of Taxi Driver with no redemption

I wouldn't really compare this film to Taxi Driver in any particular way, but yes I agree -- there is no real "redemption" at the end for Swanson. I don't see how playing with a kid makes him suddenly better. He's shown hints of glee and fun throughout the film -- fun at belittling others and generally being an *beep* He's not a total sociopath maybe, and shows some compassion or regret when alone it seems (i.e. hospital scene before nurse walks in)... but when other people enter the picture he always regresses back to immature cruelty. There's nothing about having a playful water-splash battle that breaks this pattern of behavior; what did you expect him to do, shoot the kid?

For what it is, it's a pretty great little film. It has more to say than, say, THE MASTER, a lauded and gorgeously-dressed but ultimately somewhat empty film. I'm not saying it's at all a masterpiece, but it's a very effective dissection of an era and a certain subgroup of people, and I think the critics really dropped the ball on this one (one well-known critic even casually dismissed it as just another dumb "funny fat guy" comedy; I mean.. what?) Watch the same critics then praise the next Judd Apatow movie, which asks the audience to empathize with and support sociopathic man-children just like Swanson. This movie is meant to be an expose of that kind of disgusting, "hilarious" behavior so often exhibited in movies like Apatow's. A wake-up call to take off the mask of "irony" and perpetual jokiness that conceals true feeling and sincerity; a bigger problem than ever in our culture today. For that alone, it's an admirable work, if a little unsubtle and not exactly easy to sit through. It's surprisingly well-shot, too. Notice how most of the film's in unusually shallow focus, emphasizing Swanson's solipsism and obliviousness to the surrounding world.