Why so much hate?

I just finished watching this movie, and I went in expecting it to be pretty terrible given how much hate the movie seems to have gotten. But actually, I came out enjoying it very much. In fact, I think it's the best movie that Zach Galifianakis has had a main role in (though I haven't seen Birdman yet, which people seem to love or hate).

Some of the biggest things that I've seen people complain about are the lack of humor and the lack of some fanciful moral point. For the former, just because a movie (or anything, really) is labeled as something, doesn't actually mean it has to fit that.

This movie isn't an on-the-edge-of-your-seat drama, nor is it exactly a romance movie (I'll get to that shortly), nor is it a "haha, that's funny!" comedy. It is simply an introspection of one's life. There are a few funny moments here and there, but it wasn't meant to be that kind of movie.

As for a moral point, this movie is different in that there is no exact "point." There is no morality or flat-out message or ruling being made. It isn't trying to "teach" you about life or what you should do with yours. And that is fine with me. Most of the characters are interesting in there own ways, and they are rather fleshed out for the most part (again, more on that later).

And the movie as a whole is just a perspective on life. Weird things happen in the movie, but that doesn't mean it is bad. By far weirder stuff happens in everyday life. Zach's character was the main focus in the movie, for me, and I thought he did a great acting job. I felt rather sad and mixed up with his character the whole time.

The only parts of the movie that bothered me were the magical romance of Owen and Laura's characters, and the odd treatment of Amy Poehler's character. Steve and Angela didn't seem to grow that big of a bond, so it was rather poorly done with Owen's anger scene and the sudden get-together at the end. And for Angela, her character could have used more development and different scenes. Like the scene with her injection and mentioning babies... They tried to bring some sympathy onto her, then she suddenly disappeared for a while. Then she's back and suddenly all okay.

But as I said, I thought Ben, Zach's character, was the main focus in the movie. Some of the random pieces fell together unexpectedly, and things seemed to work out. But by the movie's ending, we don't really know that for sure. Life isn't perfect, nor easy for most people. (That may be a "Captain Obvious" statement, but some people would argue otherwise.) Who knows what will happen to Ben on his own again?

Well, there's other things here or there I could say, but I don't have all of my thoughts collected, and have already written a wall of text. The movie isn't perfect by any means, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and it had my focus the whole way through.

Most people just seem to despite the movie because they're stuck in some expectation and complain it's not being met, when most people's expectations with the movie aren't really what it was meant to be. Ironically, most of the characters deal with being "trapped" in some perspective and trying to change it, as to put it simply, life really is that way--people just don't want to accept it.