Honest portrayal of life with bipolar

REVIEW: Mark Ruffalo gives powerhouse performance as a father struggling with mental illness in this gem from first-time director Maya Forbes.

Infinitely Polar Bear (M)

Director : Maya Forbes (feature debut)

Starring : Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky, Ashley Aufderheide.

Rating : ***

Is one job too much for a man in two minds?

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A family film with a difference from first-time director Maya Forbes, who also penned the script based on her experiences growing up in unusual circumstances in the 1970s.

Mark Ruffalo has the lead role of Cameron, a man with bipolar disorder who has just emerged from a spell in a mental institution.

With his estranged wife (Zoe Saldana) forced to leave town to complete her studies, Cameron must somehow transcend his condition to look after his two young daughters (newcomers Imogene Wolodarsky and Ashley Aufderheide) on a daily basis.

After a rather uncertain start, Infinitely Polar Bear comes into its own once the story refines its focus to track Cameron and his daughters more closely.

Forbes knows these characters inside out, and has some very clever (and often subtle) ways of illustrating how Cameron can and will acclimatise to his demanding new role as a solo guardian.

The tone of the film is light and often gently funny, but not to the extent of trivialising the difficulties facing Cameron and his perpetually exasperated (and just as often, embarrassed) offspring.

There are some moments deep in the final act where Infinitely Polar Bear slips off track and loses sight of an effective ending.

Overall, it might have been a very different and far-inferior outcome if not for the casting of a superb Ruffalo.

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Originally published as Honest portrayal of life with bipolar