I really wanted to like this film and thought that the story had potential. The biggest problem is in the screenplay. Seriously, folks, real human beings do not talk this way. This is sitcom writing at best. I had some reservations when I heard that the same people who did the screenplay for "Stepmom" had a hand in this, but thought I'd give it a shot anyway. Guess I should have listened to my gut. The worst was the married couple that Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer meet in Europe. These people acted like a pair of blithering idiots for no other reason than to hang the plot up on another possible resolution between the bickering protagonists. They were not even remotely real as human beings. I can't imagine anyone acting the way these did, and I have met a great many people in my life.
A good premise wasted by cheap gags, and even the scenes that are somewhat effective are ultimately sunk by the lousy dialogue. It's hard to care much about people who routinely go into screaming fits in public places, or openly talk about sex and spout the F-word in restaurants. I'm not a prude who is offended by language, but in real life if a group of men or women went to a restaurant and started talking the way these people did, they'd probably be asked to leave. The characters in this film were so shallow and self-absorbed that it was difficult to connect with any of them. It seems that this is what passes for humor and dialogue in movies these days. Doesn't anyone remember the good old days, when humor in a film came from the situation, and how people reacted to it? You could laugh at it because it rang true to life. No, these days screenwriters are content to take the easy way out, with quick one-liners and lazy writing. This wraps up awfully quick, too. Seems like years of resentment and anger melt away in the blink of an eye with Pfeiffer's final speech. Doesn't work that way. Sorry, but I did not like these people.
A good premise wasted by cheap gags, and even the scenes that are somewhat effective are ultimately sunk by the lousy dialogue. It's hard to care much about people who routinely go into screaming fits in public places, or openly talk about sex and spout the F-word in restaurants. I'm not a prude who is offended by language, but in real life if a group of men or women went to a restaurant and started talking the way these people did, they'd probably be asked to leave. The characters in this film were so shallow and self-absorbed that it was difficult to connect with any of them. It seems that this is what passes for humor and dialogue in movies these days. Doesn't anyone remember the good old days, when humor in a film came from the situation, and how people reacted to it? You could laugh at it because it rang true to life. No, these days screenwriters are content to take the easy way out, with quick one-liners and lazy writing. This wraps up awfully quick, too. Seems like years of resentment and anger melt away in the blink of an eye with Pfeiffer's final speech. Doesn't work that way. Sorry, but I did not like these people.