Thanks for Sharing a Sensitive Romantic Drama Starring Mark Ruffalo, Gwyneth Paltrow

Forbidden fruit has never seemed so poisonous than in Thanks for Sharing, a remarkably sensitive and surprisingly romantic ensemble drama about sex addiction. A winsome mix of funny, harrowing, and smart, it's most commendable for making characters who are addicted to bad behavior — and who refuse to blame themselves...

By Inkoo Kang

September 19, 2013

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Forbidden fruit has never seemed so poisonous than in Thanks for Sharing, a remarkably sensitive and surprisingly romantic ensemble drama about sex addiction. A winsome mix of funny, harrowing, and smart, it's most commendable for making characters who are addicted to bad behavior — and who refuse to blame themselves for it — somehow exceedingly sympathetic. Stuart Blumberg renders an incisive and humanizing portrait of addiction. The daily struggle is dramatized by three men, played by Mark Ruffalo, Josh Gad, and Tim Robbins, who occupy various stages of sexual compulsion and control. Ruffalo's elegantly monkish bachelor, Adam, never stops "working" to resist temptation. Entropy arrives in the form of Phoebe (Gwyneth Paltrow). Paltrow can generate sparks with anyone, but her character's hesitant courtship with Adam is captivating because Phoebe is the rare female romantic lead allowed to have a personality. As a breast-cancer survivor, Phoebe is breezy during their first sexual encounter: "Yes, my tits are fake. That's what happens when your real ones try to kill you."

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Inkoo Kang was a regular film contributor at Voice Media Group and its film partner, the Village Voice, from 2013 to 2016. VMG publications include LA Weekly, Denver Westword, Phoenix New Times, Miami New Times, Broward-Palm Beach New Times, Houston Press and Dallas Observer.