INFINIITELY POLAR BEAR stars Mark Ruffalo & Zoe Saldana-Totally Heartwarming

This touching & affecting auto-bio film by Maya Forbes tells of her & her younger sister's upbringing being raised by a single a parent struggling with manic/depression. The girls' frenetic & eccentric lives reveal the pain, humiliation and helplessness felt when a loved one suffers from mental illness. The father, Cam, played by the indomitable Mark Ruffalo, battles with bi-polar disorder. This wrecks havoc on the entire family. The understanding & impresario mother, Maggie (Zoe Saldana in an Oscar worthy performance) leaves their 2 girls in their father's care in Boston while she pursues her MBA in NYC.  Maggie wants to provide a better life for her girls and the girls would like a life that included their mother more & their father less.  The levity in this often disturbing film stems from the extreme behaviors of their father that frightens, shames & bewilders them. The family has other major struggles, being a bi-racial family and living at the poverty line.  The strength of the film comes from the love, support & understanding the family members provide for one another.  Maya Forbes is an Emmy winning writer/dir/producer.  Forbes  courageous storytelling, the beautiful cinematography that captures the '70's & and entire stellar cast (including Forbes' daughter) makes this a hard driving infinitely watchable.  It, tugs at your heart strings and evokes empathy for individuals and their families dealing with mental disorder.  The daughters ask their mother if she regrets marrying their father, "Never, we have what no one else have."  They have a family with serious issues that stays together and makes things work with their love and devotion for each other.