Rating: 2/5
Director Ron Howard, Hollywood's principal purveyor of bland, inoffensive mainstream twaddle (The Da Vinci Code, Cinderella Man) brings his affection for beige storytelling to this strained dramedy about friendship and infidelity.
Vince Vaughn (looking worse then ever - that guy needs a nap) stars as a small business owner who freaks out when he spies the wife (Winona Ryder) of his best friend and business partner (Kevin James) kissing another man. As he "comically" dithers over a course of action, further misunderstandings ensue.
When the plot is so generic it could easily be a re-worked 80s sitcom script, it falls upon the filmmakers to enliven the proceedings with a fresh approach. Howard fails miserably. An overly contrived central thrust combined with pointlessly laboured subplots and obscene levels of automobile product placement results in a particularly dispiriting moviegoing experience.
The bombast-loving Howard is clearly out of his depth balancing the comedy and the drama, and while he's smart enough to get out of Vaughn's way for several key scenes which do elicit laughs, even the Swingers star's scrabbly motormouth struggles to salvage this turkey.
Ryder attacks her shrew role with gusto, but again, the script fails her. A radiant Jennifer Connelly is wasted as Vaughn's girlfriend, and dance/action movie star Channing Tatum embarrasses himself with his attempts to generate laughs as Ryder's bit-on-the-side.
Rated: M
Running time: 111 minutes.
- Herald On Sunday / View
