Dopamine
Dopamine
| 03 October 2003 (USA)
Dopamine Trailers

Rand is a computer animator, who has created an artificial intelligence creature designed to interact with children and teach them responsibility. When his prototype is forced into practice at a school, Rand encounters Sarah, a teacher he was inexplicably drawn to, at his favorite bar one fateful evening. Sparks fly between them, but fundamental differences in their approaches to love and relationships slow them down to a halt.

Reviews
CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!
Rijndri Load of rubbish!!
BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See
Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
Doug Galecawitz this movie plays a decent straight man to adaptation's more frantic meditations on this phenomena love. there are those that walk through life and prefer ugly truths and those that prefer poetic lies, generally those that claim to live for the former reveal themselves as the latter. this movie starts out in the territory occupied by the former. the idea that the crazy little thing called love is nothing more than the delusion applied to a vast web of chemical reactions and pre-programmed responses. that love does not exist but is completely fictional in our mind to explain the power of said chemicals. note that i do not use the word "merely" when referring to chemicals, as i do not underestimate the power of them. as the movie and story unravel it drifts into the territory of denial. the beautiful lie as bukowski put it. it's alright though. the fact that the movie has the courage to explore the concepts in the first place is enough to make me like it.so what have i said about the movie? well acted, adequately filmed, and all the usual jazz that you should of course expect from professionals filming a movie. what really takes this movie off is that the characters seem really fleshed out from their first moments on the screen. the writers don't seem inclined to want to insult their audience. these could be people you know, or once knew. even some of the more minor characters you feel could be fueling their own movie. it might be interesting to have a set of movies centered on other characters and have the thrust of this movie as viewed through their background narrative. the actors themselves manage to capture their characters and embody them with subtlety. these are intelligent characters the likes of which are rarely found in romantic comedies. there is both romance and comedy in this. the comedy being a more off the cuff indirect manner that is less written and more observed by the simple act of acting as real people tend to act. as for the romance it seems messy, intellectualized, complex, difficult, and moving. all in all it seems believable excellent job 9 out of 10
eggartrealty I got to see this film at a special "Sundance" presentation in San Francisco last week. I would rate it a "6 out of 10."John Livingston, a poor-man's Ben Affleck, does a good job in the lead role of a San Francisco-based computer animator looking for Ms. Right. The screenplay was pretty good for a typical "guy searching for perfect mate" type of film.However, what ruined the film for me was lead actress, Sabrina Lloyd. She is one of the worst, and most annoying, actresses to be working anywhere. She has an irritating look and presentation.The movie would have been much better with any other lead actress. I do think both men and women would agree on this film since both lead characters are examined for both their flaws and good attributes.
David Ferguson Greetings again from the darkness. Saw the Dallas premiere this evening and co-writer Tim Breitbach and lead actor John Livingston were in attendance and held a Q&A after the showing. Really liked the premise of the movie ... the whole science vs. nature/feelings thing. Thought John Livingston was excellent in his role as Rand, the computer genius who struggles with his feelings in real life. Livingston reminds of a less egotistical, more talented Ben Affleck. He is a true actor. Sabrina Lloyd (veteran of many TV shows) displays the darkness and vulnerability and toughness necessary for her role. Her very expressive eyes go along way towards silent conversation. You can almost taste her pain. Just a little disappointed with some of the stereotypes and weak dialog in parts. Other parts were brilliant and I can understand why it was selected for Sundance Film Festival. Would have enjoyed just a bit more of the three man creative process that was displayed in hyper speed to keep the audience from being bored. After 3 years on the same project, I was very interested in the group dynamics. Overall worth seeing, with some excellent parts, as well as some inconsistencies in quality of scenes.
ryanbartongrimley I saw Dopamine at Sundance and I loved it. It was the first movie, to my knowlege that delved into how all humans are chemically programmed from birth, and how awareness of this can take the magic out of life and of love. The question is: Can we overcome our programming. Should we even try? The pitfall for this kind of topic, is usually the story gets bogged down with details and science, but that is not the case here. The characters are all extremely believable. You care for them and they make you laugh as well. Mark Decena did a wonderful job of creating a very good cast to deal with the script and the production value is very good. I was really blown away by the use of the High Definition video format because it looked beautiful. There are no explosions, no huge crane shots, just a tight, unique story that poses new questions about a classic topic, love. Ryan