End-of-year reviews: Forgotten, underperformed, overshadowed, and/or under-the-radar films over the decades – Part 5
A grieving writer and a cynical teenager embark on an unexpected road trip that changes their lives forever.
Bittersweet, honest, and genuinely human. Following up on his performance in Submarine (2010): https://kaygazpro.com/submarine-2010/, Craig Roberts once again proves his strength in playing cynicism in one of Netflix’s most effective bittersweet comedies. Pairing Roberts with Paul Rudd is already a winning combination, and the film smartly builds its emotional core around that chemistry. Jennifer Ehle, Selena Gomez, and Julia Denton enhance that journey, making it bolder and braver.
Based on the novel by Jonathan Evison, writer/director Rob Burnett brings to life a road movie that understands the quiet complexities of human connection. A road that surfaces faith and belief, disappointment and fulfilment, and emotional implosion and honesty. It explores life’s truths without sermonising, allowing its characters – and the audience – to arrive at meaning organically.
Roberts leans once more into his trademark cynicism, but beneath it lies vulnerability, frustration, and a longing to be seen. You feel for him not because the film asks you to, but because his emotional logic is painfully recognisable: It’s a disabled kid trying to understand why his father abandoned him. Paul Rudd, meanwhile, does what he does best: delivering deadpan comedy while grounding the film with genuine dramatic weight. His performance is restrained, compassionate, and quietly devastating when it needs to be.
Structurally, The Fundamentals of Caring is a classic hero’s journey disguised as a low-key indie road trip. It has a satisfying beginning, middle, and end – something increasingly rare in films that aim for emotional realism. The lessons it offers are never forced; they emerge naturally through humour, discomfort, and moments that occasionally catch you off guard, cutting your breath short just as easily as they make you laugh.
Ultimately, this is a film about caring – not just for others, but for life itself, even when it disappoints you.
And now, onwards to the last review of the year (following review)! Deliberately saved it for the end…
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