K-SCORE: 53
Director: Stu Zicherman
Writer: Ben Carlin, Stu Zicherman
Starring: Adam Scott, Jane Lynch
Spoiler Level: Moderate
“ takes some random turns before fizzling”
A.C.O.D., an acronym for adult children of divorce, has the very serious problem of a lack of a central conflict. Even the subsidiary conflicts lack direction. They come in and are resolved, ignored, or bypassed. It’s funny at times with fairly well-thought-out characters, but that simply isn’t enough to keep me entertained or interested in the subject matter it explores. All of the scenes seem like snippets from these people’s lives and don’t build towards anything.
The closest the film comes to an essential conflict is Adam Scott’s character, Carter, worrying his parents are going to ruin his little brother’s wedding with their affair, but this could have and should have been solved because the wedding is largely paid for by his stepfather Gary, a nice guy who likes to fish. At the point where he gives the money for the ceremony and reception, Adam Carter has a moral obligation to tell Gary about the affair, thereby causing the whole thing to erupt well before the actual event. He doesn’t and instead the slipshod plot takes some random turns before fizzling in an incredibly lame and ambiguous ending.