CONTAINS SPOILERS
This is the kind of movie that I would normally like-great cast, cute premise, gorgeous NYC scenery. But all in all, I thought it was a jumbled mess.
Billy Crudup, woefully miscast as Tobey, a "36 year old slacker," comes off as an effeminate (what was that silliness with Eva Mendes's character in the restaurant???), self-centered jerk who only acts like a decent person when his girlfriend Elaine (a cute and perky Maggie Gyllenhaal) rightfully leaves him. But her new boyfriend is a stereotype of the European pseudointellectual who is one of the most unlikeable characters ever to grace the screen in this decade. Given the choice between the "Sprocket" and her lovesick, obsessed ex-boyfriend, it's no wonder she chooses to go back with a guy who at one time refused to drive her to work because he didn't want to move his car from the opposite side of the street.
Julianne Moore plays Tobey's sister Rebecca, a successful but insecure actress who is married to David Duchovny's stay at home husband Tom. Duchovny, who is a terrific actor, doesn't have much to work with, and his character is so schlubby and whiny you wonder why a gorgeous divorcée (another stereotypical Manhattan newly divorced single mom on the prowl just waiting to pounce on Mr. Mom) and a glamorous actress would want to spend even ten minutes in his company. The irony is that this seemingly asexual man is actually a sex addict who joins a support group called (stereotypically of course) Sexaddictsrus. Of course he makes a mockery of his first session, making up a preposterous story about being wrapped in deli meat in order to be satisfied. Oh, and of course he uses a fake name. Eventually he does come clean and admit that he has a real problem because he can't have a meaningful relationship with his sexy and dynamic wife, and his affair ends just like that. Naturally, his wife forgives him after he pulls a crazy stunt on the opening night of her play, and Elaine dumps her Eurotoyboy after Tobey screams out his undying love for her in the theater on the very same night. None of the issues are ironed out on screen, and a sweet and tidy ending is in store for the viewer who dares to stick it out.
The film was supposedly modelled after the Woody Allen films like Annie Hall and Manhattan, but it's light years away from them because it's boring and the characters are completely unlikeable. The conversations are totally pretentious, with the characters making sweeping generalizations about the nature of their relationships and very existences.
Overall, it's a lousy, stereotypical movie that is a 4 out of 10.
This is the kind of movie that I would normally like-great cast, cute premise, gorgeous NYC scenery. But all in all, I thought it was a jumbled mess.
Billy Crudup, woefully miscast as Tobey, a "36 year old slacker," comes off as an effeminate (what was that silliness with Eva Mendes's character in the restaurant???), self-centered jerk who only acts like a decent person when his girlfriend Elaine (a cute and perky Maggie Gyllenhaal) rightfully leaves him. But her new boyfriend is a stereotype of the European pseudointellectual who is one of the most unlikeable characters ever to grace the screen in this decade. Given the choice between the "Sprocket" and her lovesick, obsessed ex-boyfriend, it's no wonder she chooses to go back with a guy who at one time refused to drive her to work because he didn't want to move his car from the opposite side of the street.
Julianne Moore plays Tobey's sister Rebecca, a successful but insecure actress who is married to David Duchovny's stay at home husband Tom. Duchovny, who is a terrific actor, doesn't have much to work with, and his character is so schlubby and whiny you wonder why a gorgeous divorcée (another stereotypical Manhattan newly divorced single mom on the prowl just waiting to pounce on Mr. Mom) and a glamorous actress would want to spend even ten minutes in his company. The irony is that this seemingly asexual man is actually a sex addict who joins a support group called (stereotypically of course) Sexaddictsrus. Of course he makes a mockery of his first session, making up a preposterous story about being wrapped in deli meat in order to be satisfied. Oh, and of course he uses a fake name. Eventually he does come clean and admit that he has a real problem because he can't have a meaningful relationship with his sexy and dynamic wife, and his affair ends just like that. Naturally, his wife forgives him after he pulls a crazy stunt on the opening night of her play, and Elaine dumps her Eurotoyboy after Tobey screams out his undying love for her in the theater on the very same night. None of the issues are ironed out on screen, and a sweet and tidy ending is in store for the viewer who dares to stick it out.
The film was supposedly modelled after the Woody Allen films like Annie Hall and Manhattan, but it's light years away from them because it's boring and the characters are completely unlikeable. The conversations are totally pretentious, with the characters making sweeping generalizations about the nature of their relationships and very existences.
Overall, it's a lousy, stereotypical movie that is a 4 out of 10.