The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)

The Fundamentals of caring is a Netflix original drama which also displays attributes of a comedy. Some of the themes involved in this film are friendship, family and coming of age.

This beautiful piece which is based on a young man ,named Trevor, whom unfortunately been paralysed since the age of 3. Trevor could never establish a relationship between his carers because of his dark sense of humour, not everyone understood it. One day a man, named Ben, who started being a carer to get a better perspective of life due to the tragic loss of his child was assigned to Trevor. As the film develops the two create such a strong bond that looks unlikely to be broke. They both argue as that's what close friends tend to do but it only brought them closer together. On an occasion their argument gave Trevor finally a motivation and to see the some local 'pointless' landmarks rather than through the television screen. On the way they pick up a couple of hitch hikers and the friendship every one of them creates for one another is truly special.

Rob Burnett was the writer and director of this touching piece of work, it is very similar to films like 'Me before you,' and 'Untouchable,' but he was able to put his own spin on the film and differentiate it from the other two to make it stand out.

I feel Netflix have definitely done a excellent job with this film, some of the camera work produced throughout the film is truly something. The simplicity in the shots through out the film was just what it needed to put the spotlight on the actors who put in a great performance. Trevor was played by Craig Roberts, whom also featured in Wes Anderson's 'Moonrise Kingdom,' and Ben was played by Paul Rudd whom worked in a vast range of work, from the sitcom 'Friends,' to playing a superhero in 'Antman'. These two were seen as our protagonists, i feel it had a multi protagonist storyline.

The mise en scene through out the film was perfect and the lighting. As the film progressed the shots got brighter and brighter as did their clothing. This was suggesting that what our two main characters were looking for was eachother. Both of them gave eachother a new lease of life due to their company, and if you look closely at the start it is dull and bleak but with the progression the setting gets brighter.

One of my favourite scenes is one of the ending scenes, when Ben was able to fulfil Trevors dreaming of to be able to 'piss standing up'. This just cemented their friendship and showed to Trevor that Ben really did care as he listened to the little things, especially as Trevor grew up without a father figure. What also made this scene so very special was the 360 pan we had above the two as they looked over the world's deepest pit, was beautiful.

This film I will strongly recommend.
Below is the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSXn-lIs4Y0