How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:98
Fresh:18
Rotten:80
Average Rating:4.3/10
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... [More]
Starring: Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman, Donal Logue
Director: Jesse Peretz
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
Braff and Bateman engage in a beautiful comedic, verbal ballet that made me laugh much more than I would have thought I would, given what I knew about the story before watching the film. Both actors display on-target timing.
Top CriticIt's the smart dialogue and plain old darn witty ideas at the core of this film that lift it above the average Hollywood comedy.
If you're not a fan of either Bateman or Braff, then nothing's going to save this muddled comedy for you. Their sparks are all that keep it going.
It's smarter and riskier than most comedies, and that counts for a lot.
It's conventional, and given the talent involved it could be better. But it isn't half bad, which makes it twice as good as some recent comedy smashes.
...there's little doubt that Bateman deserves the lion's share of praise thanks to his scene-stealing work as Tom's hilariously smug nemesis.
Talented actors can turn a so-so script into something mildly worthwhile, but come on, they're not miracle workers.
Delayed, re-titled and presumably at least partially re-shot, Jesse Peretz's troubled office-bound romantic comedy The Ex is as half-baked as you'd expect it to be, but the better half -- the office half -- really does cook.
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.
The Ex not only surprises in the consistency and effectiveness of its dark wit, but, more importantly, lets Jason Bateman do most of the comedic heavy lifting.
No year-end awards but boy did I laugh.
The real scene-stealer is neighbor kid Wesley (Lucian Maisel), whose burger-eating trick is either an amazing special effect or a true freak of nature.
No less than two Ex-men do battle in Jesse Peretz's dog eat dog comedic career brawl The Ex, and it's all about romantic rivalry, office turf wars, and yet another movie along with Waitress, about dining out.
Braff and Bateman make this patchwork just funny enough to be worth our trouble.
When it works (which is at least half of the time), this antic romp has the off-the-wall, go-for-broke zaniness of that other great modern screwball comedy, David O. Russell's Flirting with Disaster.
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.
feels and entertains like a good TV sit-com, especially with the acting talent assembled here, and that shouldn't be taken as an insult.
Nothing is more of a downer than a movie that trots out a great cast and stumbles; that tries to be cutesy and fails.
Even likable star Zach Braff can't salvage this clunker.
August 21, 2007:
RT on DVD: The Lives of Others, RoboCop 20th Anniversary, and More Out Today
It's Tuesday, and you know what that means. New DVD releases! This week we have 2007's Best Foreign Oscar winner The Lives of Others, a Serenity Collector's Edition, and other... More...
July 30, 2007:
Frank Miller Faults Weinsteins for Sin City 2 Delay
While sitting on a Comic Con panel, Frank Miller was asked about the hold-up on Sin City 2. (Numerous times, probably.) And it looks like the celebrated author / artist /... More...
May 13, 2007:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Spidey Rules, Fonda Flops
Peter Parker suffered a massive sophomore slide, but "Spider-Man 3" still dominated the box office around the globe spending a second weekend at number one with no... More...
May 10, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: "28 Weeks Later" and "Georgia Rule" To Battle For #2 Spot
In what must be a first at the box office, an aerobics queen takes on killer zombies in a vicious battle for the silver medal during what no doubt will be another mammoth... More...
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN.com |
GameSpy |
Comrade |
Arena |
FilePlanet |
GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox |
Planets |
Vaults |
VE3D |
CheatsCodesGuides |
GameStats |
GamerMetrics
AskMen.com |
Rotten Tomatoes |
Direct2Drive |
Green Pixels
IGN RSS Feeds
Comment
