The Fundamentals of Caring (Rob Burnett, 2016)

Paul Rudd, a moping writer facing divorce, becomes the carer of Craig Roberts, a sarky teenager with muscular dystrophy. Naturally, a bond forms between them and they set off on a road trip to see America's regional curios, picking up a few more strays on the way. Rudd and Roberts do bounce off each other nicely, although nothing out of the commonplace for the comic odd couple set-up occurs, the film doesn't manage to penetrate under the skin in the manner of Little Miss Sunshine, for example, which it clearly seeks to emulate the mood of, and the ending is inevitably schmaltzy. It's amiable enough with a few decent pieces of dialogue that stave off complete saccharine overload,but at the same time completely throwaway as well.

5/10