Melissa’s Review: ‘Infinitely Polar Bear’ is a warm and sweet story of a struggling family

Left to right: Imogene Wolodarsky as Amelia Stuart, Mark Ruffalo as Cam Stuart, Zoe Saldana as Maggie Stuart and Ashley Aufderheide as Faith Stuart
Photo by Seacia Pavao, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Watching Infinitely Polar Bear, I was anxiously waiting for some terrible event to happen that tears the family apart, only to bring them back together again. This is such a standard in movies that it almost ruined this movie. However, if you decide to let go and just watch, it’s a beautiful and heartwarming story of the inevitable ups and downs of parenthood and life.

Left to right: Zoe Saldana as Maggie Stuart and Mark Ruffalo as Cam Stuart
Photo by Claire Folger, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Maggie (Zoe Saldana) and Cam (Mark Ruffalo) have a tumultuous relationship, mostly due to Cam’s mental instability. After an incident, Maggie is left raising their two daughters and searches for a way to support their family. Maggie is accepted into an MBA program and moves to New York so Cam returns home to care for their children while she’s away.

Based on a true story and told in the late 1970s, the dialogue is incredibly intimate and the story goes in unexpected yet inevitable directions. Mark Ruffalo brings a desperation to Cam that is never outshined by his genuine love for his daughters. Zoe Saldana is authoritative yet compassionate as a mom doing anything it takes to give her family a better life.

Left to right: Imogene Wolodarsky as Amelia Stuart and Ashley Aufderheide as Faith Stuart
Photo by Seacia Pavao, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

This is the first feature film for both the daughters, Imogene Wolodarsky as Amelia and Ashley Aufderheide as Faith. Their relationship is just as important and they each have their own qualities that complement and play off each other.

I think what I enjoyed the most was the love and dedication of Cam for his family. He was not perfect but he never gave up. I enjoyed watching a movie where it was purely a story of a family and not a contrived, artificial sensationalization.