TIFF18: A Million Little Pieces

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A Million Little Pieces is a technically competent (and occasionally impressive) film that lacks perspective and personality. In life generally and this festival particularly, we have been inundated with films about addictions and recovery. If you’re going to pile on, I expect you have a hot take, a fresh point of view. It’s not unreasonable to expect that A Million Little Pieces might have had one; several years ago (2003, in fact), James Frey released his memoir (of the same name) and it was a monster best-seller. But when questions of authenticity surfaced, Frey’s shooting star burned out quickly, thanks in large part to Oprah’s dragon-fire condemnation.

The film was relegated to back burner, then cold storage, then deep freeze as the controversy was allowed to cool. But now that people have all but forgotten his name, Sam Taylor-Johnson brings his story to the big screen but curiously leaves the scandal unthawed, with only a Mark Twain quote to excuse away his dishonesty.

AMillionLittlePieces_0HEROWhat’s left is a story without a single breath of uniqueness. Drugs are bad, behaviour off the rails, shipped to rehab against his will, detox makes you sick, “I don’t need to be here,” resistance, rule-breaking, temptation, uncovering trauma, cautious optimism. Insert new names and this could literally describe at least a dozen movies about addictions, and those are just the ones I can name and I can’t name shit. Although Sam Taylor-Johnson makes things pretty (save her own husband, with cracked teeth and a broken nose), this feels like a very familiar, very formulaic iteration.

Taylor-Johnson’s husband, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, co-writes the script with her (which seems not to be a strength) and stars as Frey. She has enormous faith in his abilities as an actor, and directs him well. He’s committed and intense, and would have been great in a great role, except they failed to write one, and this “Frey” character is bland and superficial. We hardly get to know him, and the few flashbacks are not informative or expository, they’re hardly more than images. That said, his costars, including Billy Bob Thornton, Giovanni Ribisi, Juliette Lewis, Charlie Hunnam, and Odessa Young, get even shorter shrift. Back stories? Ha. These people barely get front stories. They fill the obligatory sharing-circle chairs and that’s about it.

I think there might have been a little life to this story had they not shied away from the truth of it. But as is, it’s a million little pieces of ordinary that add up to 113 minutes of boring, minus the 40 seconds or so when Aaron rocks out with his cock out. With so many options at the cinema, this just doesn’t cut it. An easy miss.

21 thoughts on “TIFF18: A Million Little Pieces”

      2. Green Weenie

        FYI- The director Sam Taylor Johnson is a WOMAN. You called her a him. Bad Faux Pas to not know that as a writer who researches and critiques films.

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      3. Jay Post author

        FYI – I did not call her a him. If you read the review, you’ll see it is tagged as a female director. I make reference to HER husband, who is also the movie’s star.

        If you mean the sentence “But now that people have all but forgotten his name, Sam Taylor-Johnson brings his story to the big screen” – the HIM I am referring to is the book’s author, James Frey, which I made abundantly clear int he first paragraph.

        Bad faux pas to pass judgement while failing to read with any comprehension.

        Thanks for stopping by!

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  5. J.

    Eh. I know nothing about this guy… maybe the lack of truths in his story is the reason that the character is a bit mnah? How can you write about a guy whose circumstances are a lie without acknowledging just that… maybe there would have been a better story there if they’d covered Frey’s deception?

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  6. Widdershins

    After a quick bit of interwebz research on the book I agree with ‘J’, a much better film would’ve been about the deception.
    I found it interesting that Frey’s defenders point out that the fact that he survived his addiction was sufficient justification for the whole fiasco.

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  7. Liz A.

    As I recall, the only reason the book was so huge was because it was “true”. So, when it wasn’t, it lost all of its oomph. It’s like how a story seems far-fetched, but then when you find out it actually happened, your jaw just drops. I’m surprised they actually finished the movie.

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  9. The Arcane Nibbler

    Haven’t seen the movie but it sounds like the pressure Frey was put under by his publishers to claim the story was 100% true when he wanted it known that it was embellished, would have been a more interesting story as well as the exposure and the good whipping he got from Oprah. Would have paid to see all that. But based on your review, I’ll pass. Btw I enjoy your writing.

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    1. Jay Post author

      Well thanks!

      There’s a good reason you haven’t seen the movie – we’re at TIFF, which means none of these movies are in theatres yet, and some of them are months are years away from being there.

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      2. Jay Post author

        They do. In a week I saw more than 30 films and even the ones that made big impressions at the time – well, it’s hard to remember what I wanted to say. I try to write as much as possible, but I’m seeing 5 movies a day on about 4 hours of sleep. I go back to the hotel, write for a couple of hours and update Twitter and try to visit a few blogs before conking out. I write long-hand in line for the next movie, and Sean has helped by transcribing, but it’s hard to keep up!

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