Now Playing: (2004, Daniel Taplitz) [seen in theatre]
I could go either way on this one, considering that a lot of the movie didn't really work for me. Its central hook- someone writes a book on relationships and then we see the book's effects on the author and others in his life- is similar to last year's DOWN WITH LOVE, but whereas that film used its central book to skewer the half-century-old idea of the Battle of the Sexes, this film, to its detriment, takes the concept (a guide to breaking up) more seriously. Aside from the adverse effects that book has on the love life of its author (Jamie Foxx), most of the complications caused by the book and the various breakups and new couplings that ensue are pretty rote. And yet I enjoyed the film, up to a point, due largely to the central relationship between its leads, played by Foxx and Gabrielle Union. A romantic comedy, gimmicky or not, sinks or swims primarily on chemistry, and the stars have it- Foxx mostly keeps his goofier tendencies in check, Union is just plain adorable here, and they have an easy rapport with each other onscreen. While the romantic entanglements play out (a subplot involving Foxx's editor, played by Peter MacNichol, is a bust), Foxx and Union managed to sustain my interest pretty much throughout. If only writer-director Taplitz could've had more faith in their chemistry by concentrating on them, this could've been a much better movie.
Posted by hkoreeda
at 9:42 PM EDT
