Weirdly this is my first imdb review. I've thought about writing a few for movies that I've loved and hated; but in the end I get bored or distracted and don't bother. Then this mess came along.
I sat through it hoping there'd be some silver lining at the end. But nothing.
The writing is appalling, with dialog that is non-sensical, non-realistic and falls into ridiculous stereotypical tropes.
At the start I thought it was going to be a movie about a female athlete dealing with the end of her career. This would have explained the moments where her more financially successful male counterpart is praised while she's ignored. But that whole story arch is forgotten by the second act and she even starts telling people that every female athlete wants to end their career, find a man and have babies.
It could equally have been an intense story about a father betraying his son. But the relationship between the two is in no way fleshed out. We only have brief scenes where the dad is a jerk who can't control his aggressive impulses. So ultimately, we don't care about the choice the son has to make. Why would be even consider going to jail for the guy?
Or, out could have been a rom com about a girl trying to decide between two guys. But that entire story was so predictable and cliche that by the end of the first 15 minutes or so you know exactly how it plays out.
It felt more like three vague ideas for movies that instead of fleshing out and giving depth, were all smashed together to make a, whatever this was.
The acting (or maybe the given direction?) was awful from actors I love. Nicholson has the only real moment I laughed at when he claims he doesn't know whether he's manipulating Rudd, but other than that it was entirely lacking depth. Wilson was trying to be his usual charming naive blend, but it was too confused confused as to who he was supposed to be. Rudd was a creepy stalker. Witherspoon was just, flat.
And editing. Oh my. There are two scenes in particular that were so jarring that I had to go back and watch them again to check what I thought I'd scene. First: Rudd is running down the stairs in the apartment building, and they reuse the same 2-3 second shot twice. Back to back. Second: Witherspoon gets on a bus, Rudd walks away from the bus from the front to the back and keeps walking. Witherspoon stops the bus and gets of after about 5-10 seconds of driving. Only to immediately start talking to Rudd who is now inexplicable walking towards her. They walk for another half a second and are back at the bus stop, but it's magically on the wrong side of the road. There must have been a cut where the bus turned around? Who knows, but it was awful.
Also, people. If someone calls you to tell you they can't go out with you because their current relationship has moved to the next level, then calls you a couple days later asking you out... Say no. If you do go out with them, and they're so awful and aggressive that you need to tell them to eat the rest of their dinner in silence, don't see them again. And if someone suggests you watch this film, run.
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