I remember being really into this movie when I was in college. I think there was something I connected with, feeling numb and disengaged from the world with a lot of bottled up emotions that your family really doesn't understand or refuses to engage with. I was obsessed with the soundtrack and gushed about the movie whenever asked

I came back to it a little later, older and better adjusted emotionally. I think there's still something there very honest and true at the heart of the story, but I see some cracks now I didn't notice before. Some shots seem to exist for their own sake, and while they're beautiful, they don't quite feel organically incorporated into the film. Similarly, there are some needle drops that last maybe two seconds and feel out of context; thinking specifically of the Colin Hay lyrics while the camera flies up awkwardly to a top-down shot; another example: the Theivery Corporation slo-mo walk seems to exist to look cool but doesn't connect with anything before or after it.

Likewise some ideas seem to be thrown out but never elaborated on, or if so then only superficially. There's a strong undercurrent about Mark, his aspirations/potential, and his relationship with Andrew, but we don't get a payoff for any of it. We learn about Sam's epilepsy, but it's never followed up on, making it seem like it was just context for the helmet scene.

The ending was always a mixed bag for me, but leaning away from enjoyment as I age. Of course I cheered when I was younger when they stay together, but having been through my own relationship experiences now, it seems a little too neat and Hollywood. It fits the film's message of "Live your life now! Chase your joy!" but at the expense of its subtler lesson of "make time to process your trauma before it damages the relationship around you" as exemplified by the father.

Still, there's a lot to like about the film. Jim Parston's scene is great. Peter Sarsgaard's Mark is believably chill but smarmy, yet friendly enough that you accept him anyway. The "getting pulled over by an old high school acquaintence" scene is hilarious. And the scene with Braff and Ian Holm is cathartic; very well done by both actors.

All in all I still found it enjoyable, but some of the critiques are valid (if sometimes overblown).