Movie · 2014 · Drama, Comedy · 1h 27m · R · English
Curator score: 4.7/10 (18K ratings)
Sometimes family is the best medicine.
Overview
A manic-depressive mess of a father tries to win back his wife by attempting to take full responsibility of their two young, spirited daughters, who don't make the overwhelming task any easier.
Ratings
Curator score: 4.7/10
IMDb: 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
Metacritic: 64
TMDB: 6.6/10
Director
Maya Forbes
Production
Park Pictures Features, Paper Street Films, Bad Robot, KGB Media
Cast
Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldaña, Imogene Wolodarsky, Ashley Aufderheide, Wallace Wolodarsky, Keir Dullea, Beth Dixon, Georgia Lyman, William Xifaras, Mary O'Rourke, Chris Papavasiliou, Liam McNeill, Mark S. Cartier, Alicia Love, Manoah Angelo, Nekhebet Kum Juch, Muriel Gould, Paul Elias, Uatchet Jin Juch, Wendy Forbes
Curator Review
Verdict
A warm, lightly comic family dramedy lifted by Mark Ruffalo’s performance and a sympathetic view of bipolar disorder, but it’s also uneven, familiar, and sometimes too soft around the edges for its own dramatic weight.
Best for
Viewers who like character-driven indie dramedies
Fans of emotionally messy family stories
People interested in mental-health portrayals that aim for warmth over bleakness
Audiences who enjoy strong lead performances carrying modest material
Skip if
You want a tightly plotted or especially original screenplay
You prefer sharper, more incisive mental-illness dramas
You’re allergic to twee indie-period aesthetics
You need a film that fully commits to either comedy or tragedy
Overview
Infinitely Polar Bear is the kind of small-scale family dramedy that survives on feeling more than structure. Maya Forbes keeps the focus on domestic chaos, the uneven labor of caregiving, and the way love can coexist with exhaustion, embarrassment, and relapse. The period setting adds texture, but the movie’s real hook is its tenderness toward a father who is trying, failing, and trying again.
Worth noting
Mark Ruffalo gives the film its pulse, balancing volatility with warmth in a way that makes Cam both frustrating and deeply human. Zoe Saldaña grounds the story with practical, weary intelligence, and the children bring a lived-in energy that keeps the movie from floating away into sentimentality.
Bottom line
Still, the film can feel a little repetitive and undercooked, as if it has more emotional material than screenplay architecture. If you’re receptive to a gentle, imperfect indie that values compassion over polish, it’s worthwhile; if you want a more rigorous or daring take on the same subject, you may come away underwhelmed.
Top Letterboxd reviews
eely (4★) · 130 likes
I just think mark ruffalo in a red silk smoking jacket smoking two cigarettes at the same time and saying “i’m depressed” while staring off into space should be what we force children to pledge allegiance to at school instead of some stupid flag.
kyle97 (4★) · 78 likes
Infinitely Polar Bear gave me a nice change of pace after spending most of my free time in the past week watching horror/thriller movies. This is one of those flawed, but feel-good movies that I absolutely adore, owed largely to its irresistible charm and delightful story. Maya Forbes did a fine job in her first directorial effort.
Infinitely Polar Bear follows Mark Ruffalo's Cam, a man diagnosed with polar disorder/manic depression and how he must take care of the two… more
theo (3.5★) · 66 likes
mark ruffalo as a manic depressed man is incredibly charming
bloodbubb1e (3.5★) · 64 likes
INFINITELY POLAR BEAR reminded me so much of the TV series I Know This Much Is True, also starring Mark Ruffalo as the protagonist with mental illness.
Ruffalo plays a manic depressive father trying to care for his two daughters while their mother (Zoe Saldana) pursues an MBA. His performance is raw and layered, capturing both the chaotic energy and deep love of a father trying his best while struggling with bipolar disorder.
It’s a heartwarming, character driven film that’s worth a watch.
Allison M. 🌱 (2.5★) · 43 likes
Infinitely Polar Bear is infinitely boring. It seems like a film with infinite possibilities: Mark Ruffalo plays a bi-polar dad and it has a female director. That actually sounds charming! I'm focusing on comedies this month, but I certainly don't mind a dramedy!
Set in the recent past in a time when employers discriminated against women for having children and when the long-term effects of lithium were unknown, it's the kind of movie that easily could have been charming, enlightening,… more
2003 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 21m · PG-13 · Curator 6.0/10 (51K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A compact indie about family friction that still lands on warmth and reconciliation.