It may be coming time to move on from the “Feel Good Movies” category on Netflix.  This was the conclusion I came to as I scrolled through the offerings tonight.  Many of the ones I pondered for a moment were foreign-made films with dubbed English.  I have nothing against such things.  I am also not opposed to dubbing, unlike some purists I know.  The only reason I can give for not wanting to watch one of these is that they did not appear to stand out in any significant way.  I suspect that they were made to purposely look American.  Then again, I am theorizing.  Perhaps one day I will give one of them a chance.  For now, they simply did not strike my fancy.  Having said all this, a little more perusing brought me to The Fundamentals of Caring (2016).  Now, here is a title that is veritable click-bait for a Catholic film reviewer.  I am also not sure what separates it from the Netflix section I mentioned in the first sentence because I did not find it among those selections.  Either way, I am glad that I did happen upon it.

I was even more intrigued when one of the first shots in The Fundamentals of Caring is of Ben Benjamin (Paul Rudd) walking into a Protestant church.  It may not be Catholic, but it is better than nothing.  To be fair, he is not there to worship.  Instead, he is walking through the doors there to do something to something for which many churches have also provided a service for over the years: to attend a class.  In his case, it is to become certified as a licensed caregiver.  He is doing so because he is an out-of-work writer, though sometimes I wonder why we put such a descriptor before this profession.  I digress.  Upon the completion of his course, he is assigned to work for Elsa (Jennifer Ehle).  She has a son with Duchene Muscular Dystrophy named Trevor (Craig Roberts), who, as a result, is confined to a wheelchair.  She needs somebody there to cook for Trevor, clean him, make sure he takes his pills, and do everything else that needs to be done for somebody with special needs.  This suits Ben fine because the long hours give him plenty of opportunity to avoid the divorce papers that his ex-wife Janet (Julia Denton) is trying to serve him.  Though it is not explicitly said, it is suggested that the reason for their separation stems from the death of their young son, who died in a freak accident.  This is pieced together from periodic flashbacks.  What Ben is less prepared for is not so much anything that he needs to do for Trevor, but rather for the teenager’s attitude.  Despite needing all this assistance, Trevor has a self-deprecating humor that he uses on others to test them.  As with everything else that Ben has to do, Trevor’s behavior takes some getting used to.  Eventually, as they follow along with the routine, Ben learns to take everything Trevor does as a form of torturing his caregiver.  Ben also finds out that Trevor has a fascination with odd American roadside attractions.  Even though Elsa warns Ben about getting too close, eventually, after an argument where Ben accuses Trevor of being afraid to live, he agrees to take Ben on a road trip.  It is part of their dynamic that it has to appear that it is Trevor’s idea to do something, otherwise he will not do it.  His first desire is to see the world’s deepest hole in Utah, and Ben says there are a lot of other things they can see along the way.  This includes the world’s biggest cow.  Once they are on the road, Ben attempts to get Trevor to try other things.  These range from peeing standing up to eating Slim Jims.  Each time, Trevor is resistant, but Ben’s enthusiasm wins the young man over in spite of himself.  Feeling a new sense of confidence, Trevor decides that while they are roaming about the country, they should stop in Salt Lake City to visit his father, Bob (Frederick Weller), who left Elsa and Trevor when he was a toddler.  Before they get there, though, they pick up two other travelers.  The first is Dot (Selena Gomez), a young woman that Trevor notices and to whom he appears attracted.  Seeing her in the parking lot of a roadside diner trying to hitchhike to Denver, Ben convinces her to tag along because Trevor cannot quite muster the courage to ask her.  The other is Peaches (Megan Ferguson), another young lady, this time pregnant, who they find with a broken-down car.  She is on her way to Nebraska to be with her mother while she waits for the baby to be born.  Its father serves in the military overseas.  Her and Ben look on one night as Dot and Trevor have a date at yet another late-night café.  It is the courage Trevor needs to get to Bob.  The meeting, however, does not go well.  Trevor presents his father with the stack of letters written by Bob, but Bob tells his son that they were actually penned by Elsa.  Bob then makes a clumsy attempt at giving Trevor money as his son leaves, hurt.  Ben tries to comfort Trevor, but Trevor reacts harshly, telling his caregiver that he is trying to use Trevor to replace his own lost son.  It all seems to signal the end of their journey when they get back in the car, but Dot is insistent that they go on to the hole.  Ben is past caring, but the sight of this man-made pit is awe-inspiring.  It appears to be too much for Peaches, who goes into labor at the bottom of the abandoned quarry.  It is Ben who is called upon to deliver the baby.  Doing so shows Trevor that Ben is not the jerk he assumed.  In the aftermath, Peaches understandably heads to the hospital while Dot’s father Cash (Bobby Cannavale) shows up to take his daughter on to Denver.  The last scene is Ben writing about Trevor, including a joke the young man plays on his next caregiver by faking his death.

The first thing that should be pointed out about The Fundamentals of Caring is that it is a pro-life movie.  Trevor’s condition is terminal.  He is eighteen, but according to what is mentioned in the film he will likely not live to see thirty.  There are those on the so-called “pro-choice” side of this debate that would say that such a life is not worth living if such a disease could be determined before birth.  Yet, this is not about whether babies with possible terminal conditions should be aborted.  They should not be, and this film is proof that any life for any period of time can have meaning.  After experiencing Trevor’s invariable schedule for a few weeks, Ben realizes that Trevor is not really living life.  He does the same thing every day, and changes can cause him to have a panic attack.  No matter who we are, God does not call us to live safe and staid lives.  The Bible is full of examples of this being the case.  It involves entrusting yourself to a higher power, of letting go of a desire to control.  There is little that Trevor is able to do for himself, which is why he does not like venturing outside of that familiar comfort zone.  Ben is able to successfully get Trevor to do just that, and he ends up doing some pretty incredible things.  So, trust in God.  It is the only way you will be able to accomplish the remarkable in a truly meaningful way.  Sure, the movie may not mention God in this way, but the message works all the same.

There are some questionable aspects of The Fundamentals of Caring.  There is a fair bit of foul language, and some moments of inappropriate behavior.  At the same time, there is a good heart to it, and that goes a long way.  I recommend it if you can stand a few curse words, some innuendo, and other inappropriate jokes.