Think about the friends you've made over the past few months. How many have been in"“person and how many have been online? Regardless of your answer, now ask yourself this: what kind of connection do you have with them? Disconnect attempts to examine how modern technology affects and defines our relationships with other people.
Like Crash, the Best Picture winner in 2006, Disconnect also has a large ensemble cast with multiple storylines. From the opening scene, this film pulls you into a world that turns darker by the second. It won't let you go because of the effective pacing and writing that keeps you on your toes. As a whole, the performances from each actor are strong and realistic to their situation. That's not only to their talent, but to the nuanced sensibility of their director Henry Rubin, who directed the Oscar-nominated documentary Murderball.
Disconnect was quickly becoming the best film I had seen so far this year"¦ until its final twenty minutes. After this film takes the time to build up the logistics of the story, it settles for solutions that don't ultimately satisfy. It settles for a melodramatic climax that enjoys having the characters "crash" into each other. Its messages (or lack thereof) are vague due to the fear of being too didactic or cliché.
This film never attempts to solve the social problems of cyber bulling, underage sex chatrooms, or identity theft"”and it doesn't have to. Without a proper, specific solution for the situations built up by the filmmakers, the film ultimately becomes an empty excuse for shock value rather than being a dense commentary on the lights and darks of modern social behavior.
