zetes Review of The Baxter

The Baxter (2005)

Sweet, but too conventional from one of the minds of Stella and The State

[6/10 · 26 July 2009]

A couple of weeks ago, the mid-90s sketch comedy show The State was released on DVD. Though many who weren't there at the time will always be in the dark about it, it was one of the most important releases of the year in my mind. It is a Gen X classic. And it holds up quite well, I'm happy to report. The State may not be as consistent as, say, The Kids in the Hall, which I've rewatched all the way through recently, but it's a lot of fun. Plus, the troupe went on to do many great things afterward. Perhaps the best known is Reno 911, starring State alums like Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant and Kerri Kenney (several other State members appear in cameo roles). The other major group of State alums created the bizarre and brilliant Comedy Central show Stella in 2005. The same year, State/Stella alum Michael Showalter (aka Doug, perhaps the best remembered recurring character of The State) wrote and directed The Baxter. It's a romantic comedy that claims up front to be subverting the genre. Unfortunately, that's largely untrue. While it begins with a common rom-com convention - a girl is getting married to a boring guy when her true love bursts into the church to declare his love - it focuses on the third wheel, played by Showalter himself. The thing is, though, that, when the film flashes back to the beginning of the story, the girl he's marrying (Elizabeth Banks) is the shrew. The real love interest is played by Michelle Williams, as a sort of manic pixie dreamgirl who pops into Showalter's life occasionally. The movie has a decent sense of quirkiness, so it's never boring. Stella/State co-stars Michael Ian Black and David Wain are great in small roles (State co-stars Joe Lo Truglio and Ken Marino also have nice cameos). But the central relationship is sweet but kind of boring. As far as rom-coms go, this isn't a half bad movie. My only real disappointment is that it comes from the mind of Michael Showalter. I felt it just shouldn't have been as conventional as it was.