James Ascher (Cory Monteith) is the manager of a department chainstore. His wife Kate (Karine Vanasse) is anxiety-ridden and monitors the security cameras. Nicole Cambria (Emily Hampshire) is the single-mom cashier struggling with money and her deadbeat ex-husband. Simon Brunson (Kevin Zegers) is a firefighter who recently lost his hand and takes a security job at the store.

I love the introduction of these characters. The actors are all talented. It's set up for a great movie but the story doesn't move fast enough. At almost two hours, the movie is over-extended. It needs to be thirty minutes shorter and a lot tighter. There is great stuff in here but the movie needs more intensity.

All the Wrong Reasons (2013): Dir: Gia Milani / Cast: Cory Monteith, Karine Vanasse, Kevin Zegers, Emily Hampshire, Denis Theriault: Excellent independent Canadian film about decisions and intent. Cory Monteith, in one of his final roles, plays James Ascher, the manager of a supermarket with hopes of becoming regional manager posted in Toronto. Karine Vanasse plays Kate, James's wife. She monitors the security cameras at the store while chowing down fortune cookies. She suffers from depression after witnessing the suicide of her sister a year earlier. She relies on prescription pills to deal with issues involving physical touch. Kevin Zegers plays Simon, new at the store although he yearns to get his old job as a fire fighter back. His left hand is a hook after an accident but he is determined to regain his dignity. Emily Hampshire plays a scheming cashier who engages James in an affair. She manipulates the ultimate downfall with a climax that delivers with a terrific comic resolution. She is an unfit mother often pawning off her child on others while the father is another reject of equal lack of morals. Denis Theriault adds comic relief as a fellow employee ass kissing his way to a promotion and just plainly coming off as annoying to Monteith. Director Gia Milani scores with an awesome cast and an inventive location in the department store. It deals with themes of depression while maintaining a witty comic edge. Of its four main characters, two move forward while two take deserving reverse routes. In the end it is one of the best films of the year for all the right reasons. Score: 10 / 10

I've learned not to take seriously the category given to films by Optimum on Demand, which is where I saw All the Wrong Reasons. They have it listed as a "comedy" which is as absurd as listing "Ghostbusters" as a horror film. So I paid and started watching knowing almost nothing about it. I was quite pleasantly surprised. It's actually a drama about some working class young people somewhere (I'm not sure where exactly) in Canada, working in a Walmart-type store, and the relationships and interactions of a handful of characters. I could see how some viewers might find it boring, as it's more about the psychologies of the characters than it is focused on any great action or plot. Two of the main characters suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; how they each deal and cope with their personal experience and symptoms is the theme of the film. Needless to say, they come out at the end better for all that's happened. If you like a film that's primarily about people, their relationships and emotions, then you quite likely will like this. It's engrossing and well done, IMHO.