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SYNOPSIS:
New York. Rebecca an actress is crushed to discover that her
marriage may be falling apart. Her Husband Tom leaving long-suffering
Rebecca to pick up the pieces of their relationship. Rebecca's
brother Tobey meanwhile is in a long-term relationship with
Elaine that has begun to turn sour. Both couples are spoiled
and bratty.
MOVIE
REVIEW
Movies
about couples’ failed relationships can sometimes be
a pain to watch – it’s almost like looking at
your own reflections. Face it, every relationship has to stand
the test of time, patience and most importantly, trust. This
Bart Freundlich-directed picture aims to look at these tests
and how they play out on two relationships.
Sounds
like an indie film with lots of self-reflecting opportunities
for all you couples out there? Wait till the 103-minute movie’s
halfway mark, and you’d begin to see how the characters
are stereotypically portrayed as unlikable caricatures.
Thankfully,
this reviewer’s two favorite actresses are the ones
in the lead roles of two women who take pains to save the
relationships with their husband and long-time boyfriend.
Julianne Moore (Next, The Hours) portrays an actress, who
has a distracted and problematic husband played by David Duchovny
(TV’s The X Files). Meanwhile, Maggie Gyllenhaal (Mona
Lisa Smile, Secretary) plays a woman who feels troubled by
commitment issues with her boyfriend (Billy Crudup).
The plot
may be potential material for exploring relevant urban relationship
issues, but before you know it, the 102-minute movie begins
making unfunny jokes and typical sex farces which make the
cast look embarrassing. Thankfully, we’ve got the ever-reliable
Moore and Gyllenhaal to hold the ground, minimally covering
up the obvious flaw that the movie is going nowhere with its
unsubstantial storyline.
While
the two men in these two stories are portrayed as unthankful
brats, the women also somewhat come across as spoilt and whiny
creatures. But as mentioned earlier, we forgive them simply
because of the fine casting. The more forgiving viewer may
give credit to the movie for making him laugh at its occasional
gags about sex and gender, but it does get kind of repetitive
and pointless ultimately.
Otherwise,
the movie does not shed any new light on relationship issues.
By the time the movie concludes on a contrived note, any couple
catching this together would probably not have gotten any
insight on how their relationship is progressing. Fortunately
for this single reviewer, he needn’t worry about this.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD contains no bonus features.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The disc’s visual transfer isn’t anything spectacular,
especially when the movie isn’t a must to watch on the
big screen. The soundtrack is presented in English Dolby Digital
2.0.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
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