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MOVIES / ON DVD / THE EX
The Ex

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The Ex (2007)

19%
20%
28%
N/A
N/A
N/A
19 %
Reviews Counted: 94 Fresh: 18  Rotten:76 Average Rating: 4.4/10
 
Consensus: Suffers from inept direction and unpleasant characters. The Ex suffers from inept direction and characters that are either unsympathetic or plain unpleasant to watch. more
 
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins
Synopsis:
This rollicking and slightly absurd comedy from director Jesse Peretz (FIRST LOVE, LAST RITES) begins when Tom Reilly (Zach Braff) loses his promising chef job at a swanky New York restaurant. He is compelled to move to small-town Ohio to take a job with his father-in-law (Charles Grodin) at... [More]
This rollicking and slightly absurd comedy from director Jesse Peretz (FIRST LOVE, LAST RITES) begins when Tom Reilly (Zach Braff) loses his promising chef job at a swanky New York restaurant. He is compelled to move to small-town Ohio to take a job with his father-in-law (Charles Grodin) at an advertising agency to support his wife, Sofia (Amanda Peet), and newborn son. Tom's adjustment to the rhythms and rituals of the office world is awkward at best, and complicated by the presence of an old high-school flame of Sofia's (Jason Bateman), a passive-aggressive paraplegic who schemes to get Sofia back. Meanwhile, Sofia must cope with the shock of switching roles from powerful big-city lawyer to stay-at-home suburban mom. Young working parents will identify with the familiar conflicts presented here as the embattled Tom and frustrated Sofia struggle to make sense of their new responsibilities. Braff purveys his patented nerdy charm as a nice guy whose behavior becomes more and more manic as the rug gets continually pulled out from under him, and Peet is a lovely screen presence even as her character's patience and enthusiasm fade in less than attractive ways. Their performances blend wry intelligence with out-and-out slapstick, and they are supported by a superb ensemble cast including Amy Poehler, Amy Adams, Paul Rudd, Donal Logue, and Mia Farrow. While some of the situations and jokes border on tasteless, it's the smart kind of gross-out humor of a Farrelly Brothers or Jay Roach film, and the film never never loses its heart, as embodied by Braff and Peet. [Less]

Genre: Comedies

Starring: Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman, Donal Logue, Fred Armisen

Director: Jesse Peretz
Screenwriter: David Guion, Michael Handelman
Producer: Ted Hope, Anne Carey, Anthony Bregman
Composer: Ed Shearmur

DVD Info

Release:

Sep 8, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Widescreen

Reviews

 
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Full Review | Comment
04/28/08 03:15 AM
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Ratings Image

It should be good. It's got a well-known, talented cast from top to bottom and the subject of ex-boyfriends is limitless. Instead it has the feel of a straight-to-DVD failure.

Full Review | Comment
03/03/08 11:01 AM
Jeff Bayer
Daily Herald (IL)
Ratings Image

This movie ain’t all that funny.

Full Review | Comment
09/28/07 03:15 AM
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium
Ratings Image

All in all, this flick is sure to make even the staunchest movie-goer reassess his or her notions about date movies. It's a "laugh out loud on more than one occasion" kind of movie full of good writing, good acting and characters you'll become invested in

Full Review | Comment
06/22/07 09:54 AM
IGN Movies
Ratings Image

Here's a quirky comedy that has its moments %u2013 many of which we've seen before in previous films.

Full Review | Comment
06/10/07 11:52 AM
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)
Ratings Image

The whole movie is so generic feeling and such a blatant waste of precious smart-comedy resources, I can't advise anyone to see it. I gave it Network with Snacks because Jason Bateman needs a vehicle for his brilliance wherever he can get one.

Full Review | Comment
06/04/07 07:33 PM
Karina Montgomery
rec.arts.movies.reviews
Ratings Image

Zach Braff brings what he always does -- a basic mopey charm, some sarcasm, even a rudimentary self-awareness.

Full Review | Comment
05/30/07 06:00 PM
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters
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Similar to Are We Done Yet? this insipid comedy pits the idiotic hero against an impossibly perfect villain. As a result, the movie has no intelligent, truthful or sympathetic characters.

Full Review | Comment
05/24/07 10:14 PM
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
Ratings Image

The movie's rhythm is off-kilter and oddly paced. Moreover, the film's script seems truncated at points; a lot of the plot details feel underdeveloped.

Full Review | Comment
05/22/07 02:51 PM
Steve Davis
Austin Chronicle
Ratings Image

Even if The Ex doesn't always work, on some level you have to respect a summer Hollywood comedy that is daring enough to make you want to see the guy in the wheelchair thrown down the stairs.

Full Review | Comment
05/22/07 03:15 AM
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk
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Mildly amusing but far too timid.

Full Review | Comment
05/21/07 05:27 PM
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
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Braff has a natural likability, but the screenplay gives him so many stupid, far-fetched and annoying things to do that The Ex loses credibility quickly.

Full Review | Comment
05/19/07 03:53 AM
Hap Erstein
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ratings Image

Though Bateman rolls through the film with sly comic skill, the whole exercise seems half-baked -- a high concept and some funny gags that do not a great comedy make.

Full Review | Comment
05/19/07 03:53 AM
Tom Beer
Time Out New York
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The Ex had the potential. The problem is that it just doesn't follow through. Perhaps given the deep cast and the possible exploration on the changing tides of the familial unit I had my hopes too high.

Full Review | Comment
05/18/07 10:34 PM
Ryan Cracknell
Movie Views
Ratings Image

By displaying a little more nerve, the filmmakers could have had a vicious pit bull of a comedy, on the order of Kingpin or The War of the Roses.

Full Review | Comment
05/16/07 08:04 PM
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing
Ratings Image

What if Zach Braff acted in one more quarter-life-crisis movie, and instead of Sundance it went straight to video? If only that's what had happened to The Ex.

Full Review | Comment
05/16/07 01:37 PM
Gregory Kirschling
Entertainment Weekly
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The Ex is a sitcom posing as a feature film.

Full Review | Comment
05/15/07 08:43 AM
Larry Ratliff
San Antonio Express-News
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The film is superficially a necklace of disparate gags, a dozen comedic scenes organized and tied together via a character or relationship study. A closer look reveals that it achieves more than ninety minutes of sufficiently entertaining laughs.

Full Review | Comment
05/15/07 03:15 AM
Stina Chyn
Film Threat
Ratings Image

It's the smart dialogue and plain old darn witty ideas at the core of this film that lift it above the average Hollywood comedy.

Full Review | Comment
05/13/07 07:29 PM
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
Ratings Image

I quite enjoyed the silly factor of the film -- and laughed a lot. But, I seriously lamented the guts and heart of the thing falling by the wayside.

Full Review | Comment
05/12/07 05:01 PM
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card
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Related Forums

Great cast! Especially Bateman!
by: Dane Cook is NOT Funny 11/27/07


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Darko, Donnie
(2007 release)-THE EX (aka Fast Track) is still in theaters, Zach Braff fans act now?
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