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The Ex (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:97
Fresh:18
Rotten:79
Average Rating:4.4/10
Consensus: The Ex suffers from inept direction and characters that are either unsympathetic or plain unpleasant to watch.
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins
Genre: Comedies
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... 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. [More]
Starring: Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman, Donal Logue
Starring: Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman, Donal Logue, Fred Armisen, Mia Farrow, Paul Rudd, Charles Grodin, Amy Poehler, Amy Adams, Josh Charles
Director: Jesse Peretz
Director: Jesse Peretz
Screenwriter: David Guion, Michael Handelman
Producer: Ted Hope, Anne Carey, Anthony Bregman
Composer: Ed Shearmur
Studio: Weinstein Company
Reviews for The Ex
Jokes just somehow hung in the air instead of collecting their laugh and moving on.
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.
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
Here's a quirky comedy that has its moments %u2013 many of which we've seen before in previous films.
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.
Zach Braff brings what he always does -- a basic mopey charm, some sarcasm, even a rudimentary self-awareness.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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