Friday, May 17, 2024

'Super ex-girlfriend' misleading

Movie has little to do with title, should have taken other approach

July 25, 2006
Matt Saunders, played by Luke Wilson, right, pulls out the only weapon at hand — a blow-dryer — at a scorned ex-girlfriend, played by Uma Thurman, in "My Super Ex-Girlfriend."

It's always a good idea when making a movie that the longer you stick with your original concept the more entertaining your film will be.

If audiences are deceived into thinking they are seeing a film about one thing, and then that concept barely appears in the film, audiences will not be able to enjoy the film to its fullest capacity.

Ivan Reitman's new comedy, "My Super Ex-Girlfriend," suffers from this problem because there is very limited time when the "ex" concept is in effect.

The film begins with the introduction of the film's lovable loser, Matt Saunders (Luke Wilson), an ordinary guy who has been out of the dating game for quite awhile and feels it's time to get back in the game.

He suddenly sees his chance when Saunders runs after a thief who has just stolen a woman's purse and thinks what better way to pick up a girl than to become her hero.

Impressed by his courageous act, Jenny Johnson (Uma Thurman) asks Saunders out on a date.

As they get to know each other, Saunders begins to notice aspects about this girl that are both familiar and different from other women he's dated — from their extremely rough sex together to her very needy and jealous moods.

Little does Saunders know that this girl is a hero herself. Eventually she reveals that she plays the local superhero, G-Girl. At first Saunders is thrilled by the thought but soon realizes this is not as exciting as it would seem to be.

Soon Saunders begins to find Johnson more controlling and needy and also begins to fall in love with his co-worker Hannah Lewis (Anna Faris).

Saunders does finally decide to break up with Johnson and in doing this brings forth a woman's scorn that would scare God himself.

The rest of the film has Johnson performing such acts as placing Saunder's car in outer space and branding nasty words on his forehead, but by the time this is happening, the film has run out of gas and time for the audience to show any interest in what they are watching.

This is a film that, if the directors had just taken another approach, the new angle could have made the difference between a good film and a bad one.

Why give a film a title like "Super Ex" and advertise it as if the majority of the film will consist of a woman tormenting her ex only to deliver a film in which barely half an hour involves her doing these things?

Thurman and Wilson are actually great together, and I really do wish actors in films like "The Break-Up" or "Click" would have had the same chemistry together.

British stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard is also very funny in this film as Johnson's ex-friend and arch nemesis.

This is now a shout-out to all those actors in the infamous "Frat Pack," from Luke and Owen Wilson to Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller. Please stop all these projects you're doing on your own and get back to doing what you do best: feeding off each other. After seeing each of these actors' solo projects this summer it is clear that these actors are much funnier when they are on the screen together.

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