‘POLAR’ HIGH
Ruffalo, Saldana buoy tale of dad’s disorder
Actors talk about how blockbuster megahits allow them to make more personal movies. The intimate, cozy but challenging “Infinitely Polar Bear” is an ideal example.
Here’s a small indie that highlights performances by Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana. Ruffalo plays Cameron, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the ’60s. Shortly after, he met Maggie (Saldana) when they were working at a Boston radio station. They married and started a family. Now it’s 1978, and their daughters Amelia (Imogene Wolodarsky) and Faith (Ashley Aufderheide) are in elementary school.
But Maggie needs a break from Cam’s unpredictable behavior. (The kids call him a “bi-polar bear.”) He’s erratic when not on his meds. Maggie decides to pursue a business degree in New York. The girls are sad, but Maggie will spend weekends with them and hopes increased parenting duties will help Cam.
So begins a strange couple of seasons for this fractured but loving family, based on that of writer-director Maya Forbes. They live in a cramped apartment, “at the poverty level,” as Maggie says, even though Cam comes from an old-money Boston family (his stingy grandmother decides who’ll get what).
The film takes its tonal cues from Ruffalo, who finds an arch but endearing groove. Cam’s illness manifests itself in a rushed, disorganized creativity, so he always has a dozen projects half-completed. He’s unusual, but his devotion as a dad is never in doubt. No surprise that this intuitive actor pulls it off.
Saldana has a harder lift, as Maggie is striving for something better yet has to often be reactive. In scenes with the adorable Wolodarsky and Aufderheide, she listens and acts intently. But there are too many times when she’s forced to just look worried. Still, Saldana, like so many things in Forbes’ likable but tricky film, does her best in a tough situation.