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.
Comment
05/13/07
The Ex (2007)
18
%
Tomatometer
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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
Reviews for The Ex
The so-called comedy, which is really only a sacrificial lamb tossed in front of the "Spider-Man 3" behemoth, is about as funny as a foreclosure notice.
05/10/07
If you're looking for Braff's most average movie to date, The Ex marks the spot.
05/10/07
It simultaneously feels truncated and interminable, and it grossly wastes the comic talents of Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Donal Logue and Charles Grodin, making his first movie in 13 years.
05/10/07
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.
05/19/07
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.
05/22/07
It's good to have Grodin back onscreen after an extended absence; it's just a shame it has to be in this dreary graveyard of wasted opportunities.
05/12/07
Destined to land on Comedy Central and make Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and South Park fans wonder, "Who ever put good money into that?!"
05/12/07
The next time Grodin attempts a comeback, it would be so great if he avoids movies where he might be upstaged by a sandwich stunt.
05/11/07
You can pinpoint the exact moment when The Ex loses its nerve, strangeness and soul.
05/10/07
Even likable star Zach Braff can't salvage this clunker.
05/10/07
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.
05/11/07
Top CriticJesse Peretz directs, and note how he treats the script (by David Guion and Michael Handelman) in its broadest slapstick elements. Not too well, that's how.
05/10/07
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02/27/09
Everything that can go wrong with a comedy like this does.
05/09/07
Aspiring filmmakers should check it out as a lesson plan from Bizarro World: Make a movie that's the exact opposite of The Ex and it could be the funniest film ever made.
05/11/07
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.
05/24/07
Uneven Braff comedy OK, but lacks ex-citement.
10/22/07
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.
05/16/07
So much of comedy is in the timing, though, and The Ex doesn't quite know when to quit. Or at least move on.
05/11/07
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