I channel surfed past this many times, mainly because the synopsis sounded so cheesy, so "Love American Style". However, it turned out to be quite good, very well done. The two stand-out features are the dialog and acting. Great cast. The premise is actually well executed and there aren't too many weak moments. I guess what I was most amazed by was how often you thought the wheels are going to come off the cart, and instead, the cart just banks the turns, so to speak, and the movie keeps flying. There are some nice little sub-plots, particularly the relationship that develops between the character played by former Conan sidekick Andy Richter. Also, want to mention that the music accompanying it was good.
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paulkirk-125 February 2005
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CJGlowacki14 September 2004Sophisticated sex comedies are always difficult to pull off. Look at the films of Blake Edwards, who is arguably the master of the genre, and you will find just as many misses as hits. For, if a film of this nature ever fails to work, it can never fall back on the tried and true toilet humor of a teen sex comedy [i.e. "American Pie"], or warm the audience with the sentimentality of a romantic comedy [i.e. Julia Roberts' entire career]. It can only maintain a push to the end, and hope that the audience can appreciate the almost required irony of it's resolution.
Written by husband/wife team Wally Wolodarsky and Maya Forbes, "Seeing Other People" opens with engaged couple Ed & Alice [Jay Mohr & Julianne Nicholson] only seconds away from rear-ending the car in front of them. As the frame freezes, we unexpectedly hear the thoughts and fears of both characters. From here on out, we welcome that the story about to unfold will enjoy a point of view from both sexes.
Two months shy of their vows, Ed & Alice already look and act like an old married couple. In an early bathroom scene, their actions alone show us just how comfortable they are with each other and how long they have been together. So when the line to propel the plot forward is uttered - expectedly from the least likely of the two - it is as if the very relationship itself is calling for a change, even if it means it's own destruction.
Once all the ground rules are set [Ed can not sleep with her mother or, for that matter, Salma Hayek], the two head off in their separate directions in the hope of finding some meaningless sex to strengthen their relationship. At first, everything seems to go as planned as their daily trysts only help to fire up the passion between them. But predictably, as the deeper emotions of regret and jealousy begin to emerge, they soon find themselves growing apart and on the verge of breaking up. All of these actions leading to a resolution you may or may not like - depending on your own degree of cynicism.
For a comedy like this, you need a solid cast with supporting characters just as strong as the leads. And director Wolodarsky does not disappoint. Here he has cast two of my favorite actresses as sisters - Julianne Nicholson & Lauren Graham - and allows them to play to their strengths. For Nicholson, who has always reminded me of a young Shirley MacLaine, she brings an air of naivete and vulnerability to Alice even when her actions seems less than so. And as for Graham, an actress who has proven she could outperform an entire Howard Hawks ensemble, she steals every scene she is in with an edgy "no BS" persona.
As for the guys, Jay Mohr is serviceable here as is Josh Charles. "Malcolm in the Middle"'s Byron Cranston has to be applauded for taking on a British accent and letting it all hang out. But the real treat here is Andy Richter and his sub-plot involving single mother, Helen Slater. While his scenes almost seem to belong in another movie, they are by far the funniest and his dead panned delivery steals the show.
For an independent production, "Seeing Other People" has a more personal and introspective feeling - something that would be noticeable absent from a big Hollywood film of this kind. Not to mention that this film also has some genuinely funny moments - unlike, say, most Hollywood comedies in general.
Rating [on a 5 star system] : 3 1/2 stars -
jotix10021 February 2005This indie film is worth a look because of the enormous talent of its creators, Wallace Wolodarsky and Marsha Forbes. Mr. Wolodarsky has directed the young cast, and he is to be praised for this effort.
The premise of the film is a cautionary tale of the danger for wanting something one can't have. Which is the story of Alice and Ed. After living together for a while, Alice suddenly gets restless because she imagines she's lacking experience in the sex area. Alice and Ed's relationship, while not an example of ideal happiness, is a comfortable way to share their lives with one another. That is, until the moment Alice and Claire, her sister, happened to bump into a sexual encounter by another couple that has no clue of being observed.
This incident makes Alice reevaluate her own sexual life with Ed; she finds it lacks substance. When she proposes 'seeing other people', Ed is shocked, to put it mildly, but not wanting to contradict Alice, he decides to go along. What happens next is that both Alice and Ed enter into a world that's been unknown to them. The people they meet, in the end, are not worth the trouble. They sadly realize at the end, they were made for each other.
The film is worth watching in order to see the amazing Julianne Nicholson, who we happen to have liked in another indie film, "Tully". Ms. Nicholson reminds us of a young Shirley McLaine; she projects such a luminous quality about her, that is hard to take one's eyes from her whenever she is in a scene. This young actress proves she is an accomplished performer who gets better with each new appearance. Basically, she carries the movie. Her Alice is a study in contrasts. Alice is a decent woman who thinks she is inadequate in pleasing Ed because of her inexperience.
Jay Mohr, is an excellent match for Ms. Nicholson. Both do wonders together. His Ed is perfectly credible. We have known people like him. Deep down inside, he is a good person, who suddenly gets himself in a situation he didn't call for, yet, he goes along only to discover he is too decent and not cut out for a life of gratuitous sex with the willing women that have no problem with a tumble in the hay, just for fun.
The rest of the cast is wonderful. Lauren Graham does some amazing work as Claire, Alice's yuppie sister. Andy Ritcher is also wonderful as the grounded Carl, the nerdy friend who finally finds out fulfillment when he meets Penelope, a single mother. As Penelope, Helen Slater, makes a felicitous, albeit of a short, appearance in the film.
The director is enormously gifted, who will no doubt go places because he shows he is well suited for the job. -
anhedonia25 August 2004[WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS]
Written by husband and wife Wally Wolodarsky (who also directed) and Maya Forbes, this indie film is one of the better romantic comedies in recent memory.
Jay Mohr takes a break from playing smarmy weasels to be the nice guy faced with the fact his fiancée wants to bed other people and he's allowed to do so, too. Julianne Nicholson, who was so good in "Tully," plays spunky and vulnerable with great gusto. Too bad she doesn't get the recognition she deserves.
Good supporting performances help immensely, too. Lauren Graham, who made last year's "Bad Santa" memorable, plays the jaded, cynical sister to perfection, Bryan Cranston (the dad on TV's "Malcolm in the Middle") gets a few funny, raunchy moments, and Andy Richter plays a genial guy who falls for a single mother - Helen Slater in a credible, albeit familiar, role as a mousy woman.
What surprised me most about "Seeing Other People" was how funny it is. There are some genuine laughs here. Ed's first attempt at meaningless sex gets some great lines, and there's a ménage a trois that elicits one of the most truthful reactions from a man as the male fantasy gets tweaked.
The film's premise isn't unusual, but I liked that it was Alice (Nicholson) who thought of it, much to the chagrin of Ed (Mohr). Given the genre, you know that no matter how good her intentions are, Alice's plan is doomed. We see how the couple works through this strange situation. Initially, Alice and Ed are turned on by the idea, but then the human element sets it.
I appreciated Forbes and Wolodarsky not turning this into a cheap sex romp. Yes, there's sex and nudity, but there also are real emotions at work here. The "other people" Alice and Ed befriend don't want to be the objects of casual sex; they have feelings, too. In one case, too many feelings.
Granted, some scenes run one joke too many, the Richter-Slater subplot isn't necessary and Alice does something truly uncharacteristic. But that's forgivable because Mohr and Nicholson generate such tremendous intimacy and honesty - check out the scenes where Ed rummages through Alice's underwear drawer or his reaction to her announcement about ending the experiment - that no matter how much we might enjoy their little game, we root for this couple to succeed.
Unfortunately, this film got little, if any, publicity and a limited release. Hollywood studios, whose romantic comedies often veer on the unfunny, turgid and unsurprising, would do well to learn from this intelligent and funny film. -
noralee11 May 2004"Seeing Other People" is very similar to the British original series "Coupling" so it's nice to know that American sit com writers can be guffawingly funny about sex and relationships when freed from the networks.
While it's male/female co-written, by Maya Forbes and director Wallace Wolodarsky, the premise feels like a male fantasy gender-switch of wanting both free love and the laundry done, though both guys and gals do end up getting their comeuppance.
Jay Mohr, as a mensch for a change, and Julianne Nicholson, who was captivating in the drama "Tully," considerably humanize the coincidental goings on through their sincerity.
Lauren Graham and Josh Charles enjoy being deliciously nastier sidekicks than their respective "Gilmore Girls" and "Sports Night" personas. Andy Richter does a surprisingly grown-up turn as the most grounded of the group on the sexual merry-go-round.
It may have been shot on video and blown up to 35 mm as the print was a bit fuzzy. The font on the credits was the largest I've ever seen in a film so I could see that the director and Liz Phair had a cameo, though I think we only saw her legs, and that several sit com directors and producers were thanked. The excellent songs and music were not identified, however. -
Alice (Julianne Nicholson) and Ed (Jay Mohr) are in love, live together, and are going to be married. The timid Alice realizes that she hasn't really slept with many men and regrets that. She suggests to Ed that they have sex with other people before getting married. He doesn't want to, but she insists that if they are both completely honest, it could work. He reluctantly agrees.
This movie works for the first half. It is funny, clever, and well-acted. Unfortunately, making a movie about polyamory that has something interesting and unique to say is really difficult. This storyline becomes less and less serious halfway through. The comedy turns screwball and is pretty ridiculous. We also see glimpses of side-character relationships (including two dishonest cheating friends, as well as a single friend dating a single mom) that ostensibly serve to compare and contrast with the lead relationship, but none of these stories go anywhere far enough to accomplish this. This movie's saving grace is its solid B-list ensemble cast including Josh Charles, Lauren Graham, Helen Slater, Jill Ritchie, and Andy Richter. On a sidenote, I watched this movie because rock goddess Liz Phair is in it. She has one pointless scene and you can't even tell its her. Sigh! -
inkblot119 June 2007Ed (Jay Mohr) and Alice (Julianne Nicholson) have been a couple for four years. They love each other and feel comfortable in each other's presence. Alice, a gardener, likes to pick out fragrant new shampoos for the two of them and Jay, a television writer, always chooses postage stamps that he feels Alice will enjoy putting on their letters. They live together and, in fact, are planning a November wedding. All of a sudden, reality hits Alice hard. She tells Ed that, having only slept with three gentlemen in her entire life, she fears that she has missed something along the way. Perhaps, Alice convinces Ed, they should have an open relationship until the actual day of the wedding. She can see other people and so can Ed, with a definite don't-ask-and-don't tell policy between them. Ed is astounded but he reluctantly agrees. Soon after, Alice hooks up with a fellow landscaper named Donald while Ed makes a play for a starlet he meets on the set. But, is this really the way two people in love should behave? Although the stars of this film are charming and attractive, the story is truly, well, unlikeable. Yes, every committed couple contemplates infidelity, at some point, probably, but most folks realize that the damage and heartache it would bring to their own relationship may be too great. This film tries to make a comedy out of this premise, and there are a few laughs to be had, but, ultimately, the sadness of the concept takes over. Yes, the costumes, sets, and production values are nice, making the film look great. But, at its heart, this movie is a cautionary tale for those who have wandering eyes. If you avidly see every romantic drama out there, you could spend some time with this film. Be warned, however, that the comedy elements go south very quickly.
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Zorro9995 December 2009Seeing Other People takes a fresh look at the long term commitment angle, bringing out in the open what other movies just hint at; the idea that a long term relationship may suffer if there is a marked difference between the two partners in terms of past sexual experience.
This being the case, the movie shows one young couple who decides to avail themselves of one last opportunity before marriage to see other people (hence the title).
While there is some good writing, some of it also clunky, and the acting can be uneven at times as well, but overall the movie is an enjoyable watch. Indie Movie Mania dot com has an interesting take on the movie as well. -
bcn1249 June 2005This movie was SO stupid~!!! I could not bare to watch the rest of this movie..... To think that the spoiled bitch suggested to see other people, then walks right into another relationship 5 minutes after the agreement was made.... I really felt sorry for the guy, but then again, for a guy like that to even consider letting his fiancé see other people, to go along with her grand idea, well, I'm sorry but, he deserved what he got~! And she was definitely not the best fish in the sea either, he can do way, way, way better.... She had no tits.... to hips.... no nothing~! And you had to have known that she wanted this right from the start... 5 years~??? How on earth did they last that long~???
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Ana_Banana15 April 2007This is a rather intelligent and sincere film about commitment. Personally I find it to be more romance than comedy, because of its insight in the emotions involved. There are some funny lines, but the exploration of love is more poignant. As the story goes, it becomes more and more obvious that we're not in a screwball comedy about swingers, but in a plea for long-term relationship. The acting is good enough, especially from Julianne Nicholson and Lauren Graham (who are supposed to be sisters, haha). Too good that the cynical sister prevented the danger of situation becoming corny after Alice's final, emotional speech (pause... "We don't do laundry"). But that also underlined the fact that this kind of relationship wasn't for everyone.
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I rented this film because I enjoy watching things with Lauren Graham in them. Well, she was the highlight. Everyone else seemed complete separated from the picture. You kept looking around you at those watching the film with you going, what? However she provided some clarity, as she was the only normal character in the picture, which actually isn't saying much for the film. Personally it was too far fetched for me. However, I am glad I rented despite the fact I would never want to own it. I still feel that Lauren Graham proved to be a strong actress and even thought she was not the main character, she seemed to steal the movie. My husband and I were happier and cared more about her character ending up with Josh's character than we were about the two main characters.
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dear_prudence13 December 2004I rented this movie without having heard (or read) anything about it. What a shame! This movie is intelligent, witty, hilarious, fast-paced, and realistically ridiculous. The characters manage to get developed without relying too heavily on clichéd, tired stereotypes. It was refreshing to watch. I couldn't help thinking that marketing would have helped lob this not-so-mainstream movie into the starved-for-intelligent-comedy mainstream. The quality of the dialogue and the ease with which the actors execute a huge range of awkwardness, heartbreak and comedy is so rare these days--I felt that the actors must have really enjoyed participating in something this rich. How is it that National Treasure was number one at the box office for three weeks in a row--it is so weak in too many ways to mention. I guess I'm just happy that movies like "Seeing.." are still being made somewhere out there.
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beuren29 May 2007Plot: Ed and Alice are engaged. They live together and are living the dull life. He has slept around before meeting Alice. She has a lot less experience. She decides she needs to sleep around before marrying. He very reluctantly agrees they should both see other people for a while.
At first he is not really into it. His wild days are behind him and he is simply content. Until one day Alice comes back and tells him she made out with some random guy; who of course starts to fall for her.
Of course this is a BAD idea which causes extreme strain on the relationship.
Good movie. You can see the train wreck coming but still good.
Worth a rental. -
MBunge16 April 2010What is the deal with naked man ass in movies, nowadays? When I grew up, a film that featured nudity or partial nudity almost invariably meant unclothed female flesh. Oh sure, you'd occasionally get someone like Mel Gibson who seemed to relish showing off his behind and there'd the occasional bizarre instance, like that time Bruce Willis did full frontal but nudity in movies used to overwhelmingly be females in various stages of undress.
I don't know when it happened, but sometime in the last few years the naked man ass has become a staple of film nudity. I don't know why it happened. I don't know why actors are willing to do it. All I know is that it's really weird.
Seeing Other People is a good example of this oddity. It's about Ed and Alice (Jay Mohr and Juliane Nicholson), a couple who've been seeing each other for 5 years and have finally decided to get married. Their relationship has become comfortably happy instead of passionate. They've become the sort of couple who can have a conversation while one is going to the bathroom in front of the other.
After watching two people have sex at her engagement party, Alice decides that she needs more sexual experience before getting married. So, she convinces Ed that they both need to go out and have sex with other people. Now, I've seen this particular plot before and while I can almost imagine two people in love deciding to do something that self-destructive in every story it's always the woman who has to persuade the man that sleeping around is a good idea, and that just stretches credulity past the breaking point.
The story has Alice going out and having sex first, while Ed can't even consummate the act the first time he tries with another woman. Eventually, Ed gets over that and starts nailing every women he can, while Alice is stuck in a relationship with the first needy guy she bedded. After spending some time with the brutally unhappy marriage of Alice's sister Clare (Lauren Graham) and watching Ed's friend Carl (Andy Ricter) get involved with a single mother, we get to the twin morals of Seeing Other People. The movie doesn't think that sleeping around is wrong in any way, it's just that there's not enough time in the day to have a relationship with one person and sex with a bunch of others. In other words, it makes a purely logistical argument for fidelity. The movie also contends that you don't stay with someone because you want to be with them, but because finding another normal person to be with is just too damn hard. If you can get past those questionable messages and the fact that there are about 5 or 6 six times in the film where the characters have to act like complete morons to keep the story going, Seeing Other People is mildly entertaining.
Getting back to the subject of naked man ass, you see Jay Mohr's bare behind on multiple occasions. They also show off the posterior of Bryan Cranston, the dude from Breaking Bad. Thankfully, Andy Ricter's bottom remains completely covered at all times. But I would like someone to explain to me the utility of having stand-up comedian Mohr and middle aged character actor Cranston dropping trou in a film, while two profoundly pretty women like Juliane Nicholson and Lauren Graham remain fully clothed at all times. The only female nudity in the movie comes from two actresses playing bit parts, roles that pretty much only exist for them to show off their breasts, so it's not even like there's some sort of feminist point to having the actors get naked and not the actresses. What exactly is going on? And by the way, shouldn't the Screen Actors Guild be working to get some rules in place that if an actor or actress does get naked on screen, they receive a minimum amount of screen time and a minimum number of lines? Is it really fair to put aspiring actresses in the position where showing off their upper front is required for roles that have then on screen for less than a minute or two?
The politics of movie nudity aside, Seeing Other People is a strangely depressing look at the necessity of fidelity. It's the kind of movie that makes you wonder how screwed up the filmmakers have to be to come up with something like this. -
SajeevaS12 September 2004All motion pictures i have experienced of the Sundance film festival, were not impressive. This however is an exception. I loved this movie, and i believe it the perfect movie for all couples.
Anyone wanting to watch a movie produced by a film company called "Pariah", would want to think twice- however after seeing the trailer and realising Lauren Graham was in it(being a HUGE Gilmore Girls fan), well it was worth a try. Julianna Nicholsan is perfect - i believe this is her first starring role, Jay Mohr is average BUT Lauren Graham's sarcastic attitude brought to this movie is AMAZING. I wish she could have had a greater on screen time.
This was a good comedy in years. I have found bedroom comedies very pleasing - but this certainly was an exception. The standard of this movie proved that it could have done extremely well commmercially( it did well critically), if released in theaters. -
MovieAddict201616 December 2005"Seeing Other People" is a daring romantic comedy about a couple named Ed and Alice (Jay Mohr and Julianne Nicholson) who are engaged and plan to be wed soon. They live together but are both having doubts about their relationship. Alice realizes she's had so few sexual relationships in the past, she might just be marrying Ed because she's never felt anything else. So they agree to begin fooling around with other people for a while to test their own relationship.
The movie balances a prescient question - by focusing too much on the "What if?" aspects of life, can it in fact do the opposite and only make you feel more constrained? When Ed begins having sex with a college girl he begins to become addicted and almost forget about Alice - when he realizes this, it scares him.
I hadn't heard anything about this film in advance but I enjoyed it. It's not extremely well-made and definitely has that purposefully low-budget indie feel to it - but it's a lot better than most romantic comedies out there in the mainstream today.
Check it out if you get a chance. -
"Seeing Other People" is all about DINKs Alice (Nicholson) and Ed (Mohr) who have lived together for years and decide to try other sex partners before tying the knot. This obviously contrived premise yields an abundance of the same old relationship problems we've all seen before a zillion times giving the film the familiarity of old news as opposed to old friends. On the downside, this conversational flick uses a plethora of stereotypical side characters and plenty of not-so-subtle sex talk for filler while Ed and Alice are clumsily making their last ditch effort to get some "strange". On the upside, the writing is sufficiently insightful and fresh to create enough moments of humor and fun to make for a worthwhile small screen watch. With average marks from critics and public, "SOP" will play best with younger adult females. Keep expectations real. (B-)
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rstanfie25 August 2005I am shocked and amazed to find reviews short of miserable for this horrible film. I rented this "movie" or feces, whatever you wish to call it, with several friends and after thirty minutes we had to stop watching. Just listening to the dialog left a horrible taste of sour milk in my mouth. This film was about as intelligent as an ass pimple.I hope I never see that bra-less, raggedy Anne look alike (Julianne Nicholson) again.It was like watching the most putrid pilot for a sitcom that will never make it to television, but instead of being a quick but painful 30 minutes( all I could bare)this was an excruciating 90 minutes.
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dromasca5 March 2005'Seeing Other People' can be placed in the zone between the romantic comedy and the TV sitcom. It has some good parts of each genre and some bad parts of each. Overall the good parts seem to slightly exceed the bad ones, without making the film an experience that one cannot forget. The theme of 'open couples' is translated in the life of a young couple before marriage, trying to experience multiple partners before they enter the institution. It could have been a more interesting film, if the authors would have dared more, but they preferred the moralistic path. The moral is that sex without love means nothing, and that the danger in such tentatives is in becoming too involved. Interesting for any one? Not for me, thank you - I found the treatment very conventional and boring. The leading couple are good and the relationship they act is very credible. Julliane Nicholson especially is a name to remember. The rest of the cast are sitcom actors, or they were directed to act like ones.
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afterdarkpak4 October 2020Performance n quality somehow decent. its just typical sex comedy with less sex scenes. there is another movie " newness 2017" also kinda same plot about OPEN relationship / marriage. and it never works for NORMAL people.
So its a movie about a couple who is going to be marry , guy loves his fiance /gf very much , But fiance /gf lacks of sexual experience , i guess the guy is not that good in sex. so she wanna have some sexual adventure with other guys before marry. her fiance /bf didnt agree but later he agreed and she goes other guys. actually she had only 2 guys and one of them she starts having a FLING or feelings a little. also almost every couple in this movie is a cheater or sleeping with someone else rather than with significant one.
Anyway , the movie is good but gives bad moral. like sleeping with other guys ? yeh this movie maybe exciting and good for young couple or this new dumb generation. but such things ruins relationship. it rots brain.
No wonder divorce rate is getting higher n higher. -
HeartMonger17 August 2004Intense, funny, witty, and more than anything, social comedy on the ways of adult dating and it's results-be it good or bad. Mohr and Nicholson are engaged couple two months away from a wedding date, when a bizarre event at their engagement party forces Nicholson to re-think the relationship and start to date other people so she won't feel so pristine when it comes to sexual experience. This leads to a disaster of events following Mohr, Nicholson, and their cohorts. Very intelligent and needed in this time of clumsy, condescending comedy, while containing your usual variety of comedic, sexual, and frustrated characters(especially Charles as a sexually frustrated sex fiend...very annoying) who even they seem to get the right feel to this heart felt commentary.
The film goes the way films should go these days, showing that guys are sensitive at heart and have morals. Most of the male characters are the moralistic, straight forward eyes, while the woman are the fresh faced street prowlers who will stop at nothing to get pleasure. Guys will be appreciative of the message made for guys with self respect, however it is easy to assume that most males who DO see this film will use it's message of male sensitivity cover up any flaw or trait that a female might find offending. Still, the writing formula uses this as a tool to pave the way for it's male leads, particularly those of Mohr, Richter, and finding the director in a cameo as a sales man!
The females are by far the most promiscuous as they speak of nothing but pleasure and what it would be like to... with someone else. They have amicable traits though, even though they are covered by the image of sex driven kittens. Very funny stuff.
On another level, the film follows some of it's ensemble into different relationship work. Richter meets up with a stressed divorcée(a VERY remarkable and noteworthy performance by the always reliable Helen Slater) named Penelope who is divorced with a son who hates her for splitting with his father. As the two go deeper into a relationship, human interest is revealed and both the comedy and tragedy of divorce and starting anew are studied.
By the end of the film, Mohr and Nicholson have become way to deep over the heads to see what's coming next, and it is up to what they have learned about each other and themselves to decide what will come next. It becomes appropriate and dramatic at just the right time.
Wallodorski's direction is emulated very well when the characters learn to face each other after all that has happened...with the right ending.
All in all, this film should have been released nationwide, and I should hope that it is up for some Academy Awards...maybe Helen Slater can finally get the recognition she deserves. Anywho, this film is a no hits miss, give it all you got romantic sex farce, displayed very maturely and aesthetically.
Great film! -
edmass19 December 2005The best romantic comedy I've seen in years. Not the kind of slick over the top Hollywood stuff by Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler and a lot less syrupy than a Hugh Grant epic. Julianne Nicholson and Jay Mohr are perfectly cast and both deliver smoothly professional performances as the engaged couple who decide to spend a little time sowing their sexual oats before marriage. Instead of playing it strictly for laughs the writers and director concocted a nice blend of human feelings and comedic action. Nicholson is just great as the awkward seductress and Mohr does a great job as the man who reluctantly enters into the game but soon finds himself enjoying his flings a little too much. We see just enough of the supporting characters to nicely round out the plot without distracting from the main story. Andy Richter (earnest friend) and Helen Slater (distraught single-mom) are particularly good. There is enough meaning and emotional complexity to make this a lot more than a standard boy-girl farce. Indeed, with just a little better pacing and a tiny bit more cutting this film would be a top ten comedy.
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hr3nion310 January 2006Well, the movie did turn out a lot better than i expected. It's not boring and it's not unoriginal. It's really not a silly romantic comedy. The situations the characters put themselves in are very unusual, of course, we're still talking about a movie, but the main characters are indeed plausible. Donald is, of course, an exaggeration, but he's just a pawn in the movie, a means to prove something. The ending isn't one of those ridiculously happy, always the same, moral containing pieces of crap you can usually see in movies of the genre. I genuinely liked it and i'm hard to please when it comes to this particular genre of movies. It's worth a watch. Besides, it's better directed than other movies, the story line always stands up, the characters themselves stand up. And they do not experience this miraculous change and love is not revealed to them like a holly god given artifact, yada, yada. At the end of it all you actually see yourself going through it all, the movie makes you feel something, you may even learn a thing or two. It's not the usual hope-producing, tissue moistening idiocy. It's a good movie, not a consolation prize for teary women around the world.
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I was hugely impressed with this movie, if for nothing else than for the comedy. It might not be the edgiest, wittiest humor at all times, but I found it appropriate to every scene.
The flow of the film is certainly a bit jumbled, almost confusing sometimes, but that is how the characters feel. Sometimes, we're watching a bit of slapstick and other scenes revolve around a decisive discourse on relationships. This might be a bit frustrating to certain viewers, but it brought me closer to the characters' dilemmas of irregular chaos.
The acting is great from everyone. I'm a huge Andy Richter fan, but I wasn't head over heels for his part like everyone else seems to be. He did very well, but Julianne Nicholson and Lauren Graham stole the show for me, both in their respective ways. Jay Mohr performs as expected, if you've seen him in other films. I've always liked him.
Overall, the movie is very funny and offers some nice foundations for a few types of relationships. When it comes to relationship questions and problems, some films try to surprise. There's nothing surprising about the conclusions offered here, but it's entertaining to watch them be revealed throughout the film. -
peruviansilver7 July 2012This is high on my list of favorite comedies. Its actually been years since I've seen it and I still recommend it to my friends. Strangely it is a mostly unknown film, but it is so darn funny.
I love how it deals with that nagging feeling anyone getting married has "Am I ready, what else is out there?". Well, what is out there can be far worse than what you have and very hilarious at the same time.
Intelligent comedies like this are a rarity. The reason that they are a rarity is because it is all about the writing and good writers are hard to find.
I find it interesting how 90% of the reviews of this film loved it while there are two reviews that absolutely trash it. All I can think of is that those people have rammed any of their doubts about their relationship so deep down into their subconscious that anyone who even remotely gives light to those insecurities will be viciously attacked. The rest of us prefer to laugh it off and chalk it up to being human.