THE DILEMMA
CAROLINE: The new Ron Howard movie, The Dilemma, is being billed as a hilarious comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Kevin James, but in actuality it’s kind of a serious movie.
RYAN: Really? That surprises me. I didn’t get to attend the screening with you, sadly, but as you know, I have only one question – how was Winona Ryder?
CAROLINE: That’s hardly where I want to begin.
RYAN: But you know I love her! I’m so excited that she’s having a career renaissance lately what with this movie and Black Swan.
CAROLINE: She’s perfectly fine. She looks good – too good to be playing Kevin James’s wife, that’s for sure.
RYAN: Yeah, that’s not so realistic. And Jennifer Connelly is Vince Vaughn’s wife?
CAROLINE: No, she plays his live-in girlfriend, but part of the movie is his planning to propose. And Jennifer Connelly is so gorgeous I almost had to look away a few times. She’s just beautiful. A little too skinny though.
RYAN: So is the movie not that funny?
CAROLINE: It starts off hilariously with the four of them at dinner and Vince Vaughn doing one of his signature rants. The audience was howling. But the movie takes a turn when Vince sees Winona, his best friend’s wife, making out with another man, who’s played by Channing Tatum. Then the movie basically becomes a morality tale about friendship, marriage, love, betrayal, addiction and loyalty.
RYAN: Wow. Did it make you LOL at all?
CAROLINE: Oh sure. There are some funny moments, but honestly, the comedy probably only makes up about 20% of the movie. The rest is pretty intense. It’s really a movie for people in their late 20s, 30s and 40s who can relate to marriage and infidelity and that sort of thing. I don’t think the kids will like it.
RYAN: This is all so interesting because I just assumed this was a romantic comedy.
CAROLINE: I’d still call it a comedy, even a bromance, but it has that Ron Howard heaviness, like in Parenthood. Also, it’s quite long at almost 2 hours. Ron needs to be a little more judicious in the editing room.
RYAN: So no poop jokes?
CAROLINE: Ha, no. It’s much more adult than that, which I appreciated. There’s no bathroom humor. I liked the cast a lot, but the movie dragged a little and was a lot more serious than I thought it would be. But it’s certainly relatable in some ways. I think we’ve all debated what we would do if we caught a good friend’s spouse cheating.
RYAN: For sure. How’s Vince looking?
CAROLINE: A little bloated, but not bad for him. I always enjoy him in movies. This one got a little heavier than it needed to be, and some of the scenes weren’t entirely believable or realistic. And I would have preferred someone other than Kevin James in the best friend role too. He’s amusing but nothing special.
— BOTTOM LINE —
CAROLINE: This movie isn’t nearly as much of a comedy as it leads you to believe. It’s funny in parts, but also pretty intense in others as you watch the characters make different ethical decisions. I enjoyed it to some degree, but also felt like it was a little bit of false advertising. Great cast, though I’d say you really don’t have to see it on the big screen. You’d be just as happy watching it at home.
— RATING —
