Plot Summary
Ron Hall is a successful art dealer who has it all—except for a successful marriage. He and his wife Debbie have grown apart from each other, and he has been looking in the wrong directions for love. His marital conflict has now come to a head, so Debbie decides to make Ron exit his safe, affluent world to come volunteer with her at the local homeless shelter. While there, though his heart is not in the work at all, Ron forms an unlikely relationship with a violent homeless man whose story captivates Ron in a way he never expected.
Production Quality (2.5 points)
As a clearly well-funded and well-marketed production, Same Kind of Different As Me had a lot going for it from the get-go. This production is obviously high quality in a lot of ways, including video quality, camera work, and audio quality. The soundtrack is also very intriguing. Sets, locations, and props are very well-constructed and utilized appropriately, especially the historical components in the flashbacks. The only minor nitpick to note here pertains to some small editing issues, such as lagging scenes and awkward transitions. Otherwise, this production is top-notch.
Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)
As Same Kind of Different As Me is based on a book and a true story, sometimes it seems like it’s too much like a book turned into a movie. This is evident in unnecessary narration and obvious dialogue that tends to spoon-feed the story to the viewer. Some of the characters tend to be portrayed too perfectly, yet this is a great true story despite these flaws. The flashbacks are used in highly effective ways and are actually the highlights of the film because of the story they tell. There are a lot of great messages and lessons to learn from this story, but we would have liked it if this film indulged less in drama and more in the opportunity it had to portray an epic story full of realistic, flawed, and accessible characters. As mentioned before, there are too many lagging and choppy scenes that hurt this goal from coming to fruition. However, there is enough good to make this at least an interesting movie to watch.
Acting Quality (2 points)
Though this movie is mostly professionally cast, there are a few issues that keep this section from being all that it could be. For one, the lead actor and actress sometimes seem to be phoning in their performances, and at times they are too dramatic. However, Djimon Hounsou and Jon Voight are particularly well-cast and well-acted; these two almost save this cast on their own. Moreover, other cast members outside of Greg Kinnear and Renée Zellweger are also fine and post good performances. In the end, this punctuates an above average film that could have gone further.
Conclusion
Same Kind of Different As Me had everything going for it, but it stopped just short of greatness. The excellent true story and high amount of funding almost forced this film to be above-average from the beginning, but the pedestrian nature of its presentation and its over-indulgence in drama apart from character development tripped it up. In the end, we can’t help but wonder if this was another one of those movies designed to make a quick cash grab at the theaters rather than make a real difference, which seems like the original intent of the book’s authors. We may never know, but this is at least a fine film that most audiences will enjoy.
Final Rating: 5.5 out of 10 points
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