Oscar-nominated screenwriter Stuart Blumberg (The Kids Are All Right) steps behind the camera for the first time with this sympathetic portrayal of sex addiction. Through his lens, one experiences a world of temptation for those trying to stay sober: low-cut blouses and short skirts everywhere, on billboards and on living ladies (usually to the beat of a marching-band drum corp)—without blaming the objects of their lust. Sex addiction isn’t a joke in Thanks for Sharing; it’s a disease. But it’s not handled without humor, either—with witty dialogue and sharp references—resulting in a warm, funny and poignant portrait of a misunderstood affliction, even as it glosses over the uglier bits.
At the center of the film is Adam (Mark Ruffalo), an environmental consultant whose ascetic lifestyle has earned him a five-year medallion. His day starts with prayer and proceeds with no television, computer or smartphone, even when he’s traveling. He’s ready to start dating again when he meets the beautiful and driven Phoebe (Gwyneth Paltrow), but his hang-ups about sex may throw a wrench in the works before they have a chance to get going.
Ruffalo is immensely likable, so it’s easy to fall for him despite Adam’s distasteful addiction. In fact, it’s hard to even imagine him behaving the way he describes—the details of which he skirts over—until later when he falls off the wagon in a Hulk-like transformation. Meanwhile, Phoebe exhibits some of the same obsessive diet and exercise habits that Paltrow herself has been accused of—a kind of meta character trait that balances the power in their budding relationship.
Adam’s sponsor is Mike (Tim Robbins), a long-married small-business owner whose years in Sex Addicts Anonymous have armed him with an arsenal of pithy maxims that offer constant amusement. “Feelings are like children,” he says. “You don’t want them driving, but you don’t want to stuff them in the trunk either.” When his prodigal son, Danny (Patrick Fugit), himself a drug addict, returns claiming to be clean, Mike proves to be far less forgiving of his own family than of his sponsees, and his control over his household and himself threatens to crack.