The Fundamentals of Caring

Yesterday, I happened to watch this movie on Netflix out of sheer boredom. It was something I had been planning on viewing for a long time. The movie starts with the acronym ALOHA: Ask, Listen, Observe, Help, Ask again. This is movie is about a writer, Ben, who decides to become a caregiver. On his first consignment, he is sent to Trevor, who suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

In the movie, both Ben and Trevor embark on a soul redemptive, liberating road trip through some whimsical tourist sites across the USA. Ben exhorts Trevor to wring out the life from his survival and fulfils all his wishes. They also meet two other women on their road trip, who add colour to the trip.

The Fundamentals of Caring is like any other self-discovery road trip movie. Luckily, it does not have all hackneyed images from similar road trip movies like ‘staring at the window pensively’. Yet, the cinematography is appealing. The entire movie consists of various rectangles in different shots, with central positioning.

Further, the movie has more humour than one would imagine. While both main characters are grief-stricken, they do not miss opportunities to crack jokes and mock each other. The comic timing and the acting of both actors need to be lauded along with the stellar writing, which reflects beauty in brevity.

The movie does not follow the usual story curve. Throughout the road trip, the viewer expects something to overturn, but things are smooth always. Yet, when the movie ends, one can feel a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction, as the heart fills and a smile is brought to the face. Nobody is special in the entire movie, which makes it a simplistic glory. There are barely any breathtaking sceneries, and the characters are as real as can be. An absolutely delightful movie for someone who is in the mood for some drama.