Genre: Comedy/Romance
Director: Jesse Peretz
Cast: Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman, Charles Grodin, Mia Farrow, Donal Logue, Amy Poehler, Amy Adams
RunTime: 1 hr 32 mins
Released By: GV
Rating: M18 (Sexual References)
Official Website: www.theexmovie.com

Opening Day: 5 July 2007

Synopsis :

Tom Reilly (Zach Braff) is a bit of an underachiever when it comes to his career (or lack thereof), but his adoring wife Sofia (Amanda Peet), a formidable lawyer, has always been happy to act as the breadwinner. With the birth of their first child, however, the couple feels obligated to take on more traditional roles and leave their life in New York City for Sofia's hometown in Ohio.

The hideous living room set gifted by Sofia's parents Bob (Charles Grodin) and Amelia (Mia Farrow) upon their arrival is the first troublesome sign that Tom and Sofia may not fit into their new lifestyle. Tom takes a job working for Bob at Sunburst Communications, an advertising agency recently revamped by a pretentious, snowboarding creative guru, Don Wollebin (Donal Logue). Tom's struggle to perform in his new position is compounded by the sly sabotage of the agency's star executive Chip Sanders (Jason Bateman). Chip, a paraplegic womanizer who still carries a torch for Sofia from their high school days, is Bob's office pet, and can do no wrong in his eyes.

Tom's every move seems to backfire, embarrassing his father-in-law at the office and alienating him from Sofia, who is vents her frustration at being a stay-at-home-mom by shouting "Hearsay, your honor!" at Court TV and watching wrestling with her 13 year-old neighbor. As Chip continues to make his moves on Sofia and ingratiate himself to her parents, Tom is determined to fight his way out of what has become suburban hell and win back the affection of his wife.

Movie Review:

The title of the movie is a misnomer – ‘The Ex’ in question is more of a good friend of which a one-night stand was involved. You know a movie is doomed when creative entities involved cannot come up with a better title. Worse, this movie was first known as ‘Fast track’, but that was dropped when the movie failed in Los Angeles in December last year. This film should have been released straight to video.

The basic premise is simple. Loser Tom Riley (Zach Braff) has lost another job, this time instead of getting promoted and coinciding with the birth of his newborn. The couple decide to go back to wife Sophia’s (Amanda Peet) hometown in Ohio, where promise of a job by her father beckons. Enter Tom’s new job and mentor Chip (Jason Bateman) whom we later find out is best friends with Sophia and they had a one-night tryst between them. The central plot then revolves around Chip’s pining for Sophia and his getting the better of Tom.

The Ex is really a Zach Braff movie. And boy, have I had enough of him. And his total lack of talent. Looking back at his recent spate of poor box office ‘hits’, I am sure his fans feel the same way. Here, Zach as Tom Riley spends 90% of the film as a bumbling and whiny loser/idiot. He remains uninteresting and flies under the radar throughout the comedy. Sounds familiar? We are never truly engaged in him, nor do we sympathise his plight and situation. And he is supposed to be the hero of the film?

Yet the cast for The Ex seems somewhat spectacular, which points to markedly poor script writing. The plot is terribly predictable – save the villainous Chip (played by Jason Bateman) who is too successful in his antics. Worse, not once did Tom ever fight back and win. A horrendous attempt at ‘dark comedy’ if there ever was one. Amanda Peet’s role as Zach’s wife Sophia who should be most central to the plot, has little to do or say. Her resulting scenes (as well as the other supporting actors) end up more as filler, and unfortunately fodder, to an excessive 92-minute film.

Admittedly, there were a few true comedic moments, which made me laugh, but these are too few and far between to save this movie from complete disaster.

Movie Rating:



(A perfect comedy for couples who are too interested in each other to pay any attention on the screen)

Review by Darren Sim