I see it as a microcosm of life.

Off the top of my head, this is a film where the dialogue/ideas is soooo on point.

The whole spin of talking to grandma and how it's like praying...when you don't know the other person is listening or you don't know if the person means it...is just so on-point.

And as already posted, "music makes life beautiful."

The family dynamics is (I don't care if I sound redundant) on point. The silence and the space each family member gives and has is real. Usually in films, the family is romanticized with dialogue up the ying-yang. No matter how close I am to my family, there are many times where nothing is said.

The "cause and effect" aspect of the film got me. Especially NJ and his first girlfriend. It actually challenged my personal beliefs...specifically, the time when NJ told his ex that (something like): If I made a different choice, life would've been different, but in the end it's all the same.

I do feel personally that there's points in life that you'll get to no matter what path you took to get there, but I don't see it as not making a difference as how NJ put it.

NJ's dismay at his ex and people telling him what to be (as far as his career) and his sense of "being his own man" is further reinforced with his conflict of integrity in the business world (as Ellipsis stated)...his sense of principles.

It captures life so well...the large and small details.
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