Fundamentals of Caring
Selena Gomez and Paul Rudd star in a new Netflix film, streaming June 24
At the Sundance Film Festival last January, the Internet channel Netflix turned the movie business upside-down by spending multiple millions to buy original films—including this hilarious and touching example, The Fundamentals of Caring—so that they might premiere streaming on Netflix. And on June 24, for The Fundamentals of Caring, at least, that’s exactly what will happen.
The movie follows the story of Ben (Paul Rudd), a retired writer and immature man, who becomes the caregiver of Trevor (Craig Roberts), a foul-mouthed 18-year-old with muscular dystrophy. One of them is paralyzed emotionally, the other physically, but Ben and Trevor become unlikely buddies, and take an impromptu road trip to all the places Trevor has become obsessed with while watching the local news, including their holy grail: the World’s Deepest Pit. Along the way, they pick up a runaway (Selena Gomez) and a mother-to-be (Megan Ferguson) who help test their survival skills and friendship. With Jennifer Ehle as Trevor’s mom and Frederick Weller as Ben’s dad. Based on the novel by Jonathan Evison, The Fundamentals of Caring is written and directed by Late Night With Dave Letterman executive producer Rob Burnett.
