A guy tries to tell his buddy his wife is cheating on him. WithVince Vaughn,Kevin James. Director:Ron Howard. (1:44). PG-13: Sexuality, comic violence. At area theaters.
It may be positioned as a comedy about infidelity, but the real dilemma in the sadly unfunny"TheDilemma"is that several different movies are going on in director Ron Howard's first nondrama in 11 years.
Initially, it's a workplace satire about odd-couple business partners Ronny (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Kevin James) hoping to pitch muscle cars with electric motors to automakers.
Then it becomes a relationship farce about commitment-phobe Ronny's upcoming proposal to his girl Beth (Jennifer Connelly). She's a successful chef, and her parents' upcoming anniversary celebration weighs on her embarrassingly childish 40-year-old boyfriend.
Soon it morphs into a slapstick as Ronny sees Nick's shifty-eyed wife,Geneva(Winona Ryder), two-timing him. This forces Ronny to fall off flower beds, scramble up trees and get into clumsy fights with her tattooed paramour (Channing Tatum) to get photographic proof.
Shoehorned in through all of this is a back story about Ronny's difficulties as a recovering gambling addict.
That last thread explains why Ronny's friends worry about the wild stories he tells to explain his flustered state. But really, Ronny is following Geneva and having a crisis of conscience: Should he tell Nick what he knows?
It reaches a boiling point when their revolutionary car is delivered to a high-powered manager at Dodge (Queen Latifah, overacting in three scenes).
This tonal mishmash cripples"The Dilemma"almost immediately, though there are many other speed bumps, including Vaughn's irritating, fast-talking prattle. It was welcome in"Swingers,""Made"and"Wedding Crashers."But here, you're willing to give Ronny $20 if he would just ... stop ... talking.
These are unexpected faults to find in a Ron Howard comedy. He is, of course, a veteran of classic TV shows and the director of"Night Shift,""Splash"and"Parenthood" -- all of which still satisfy.
Since focusing onDa Vincicodes and dramas (1995's Oscar-robbed"Apollo 13,"2001'sOscar-winning"A Beautiful Mind,"2008's Oscar-nominated"Frost/Nixon"), Howard's put laughs on the back burner, and this frantic movie seems designed to make up for it.
Vaughn and James try to pump up the goofy camaraderie, but the fraternal love in"The Dilemma"is more like wanna-beAdam Sandler(all that dumb clown-guy dancing) than would-beNeil Simon.
ow could no one involved know this movie isn't funny?
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