dogwater-1 Reviews

Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Not Your Daddy's Rio Lobo

[9/10 · 22 November 2015]

Here's one. Bone Tomahawk is an adventure story, a horror story, a character-driven western, a dark comedy, a rescue story and an edge of the seat thriller all in one. Need more? Its a love story too. A very well-written script by S. Craig Zahler, who directed and a cast of superb actors headed by Kurt Russell who is the next most unsung Hollywood actor after acknowledgment of Jeff Bridges. Richard Jenkins, one of my favorite actors, gives the "stand-by deputy" role of Chicory such depth and truth that it stands as one of the best performances I've seen this year. Matthew Fox as an off-beat foppish gunfighter with a soul is charismatic. Patrick Wilson, who continues his career of interesting choices is rather heart-breaking as a man so in love with his wife, Lili Simmons, that he suffers mightily in his determination to rescue her. Ms. Simmons plays an unusual combination of a liberated woman and caustic commentator on the "stupidity" of the frontiersmen she lives around in the ironically titled town of 'Bright Hope'. David Arquette and Sid Haig channeling Slim Pickens set the stage at the beginning and from the first scene you know this is not 'My Darling Clementine'. Sure there is some gore of a type I've never quite seen before. Its minimal, but strong enough to unsettle anyone's nerves. As for the savages, well they're definitely savage and scary to boot. Not everyone's tincture of morphine and whiskey, but it's some journey. Fred Melamed serves homemade whiskey in The Learned Goat.

Something Wild (1961)

Maybe Not So Wild As You Think

[8/10 · 16 November 2015]

I had never seen 'Something Wild' and I tuned in late on TCM last night. Perhaps I shouldn't review this at all, but I was taken by the 85% of it I saw. Already I feel stupid. This is a very compelling movie with some of the best actors around N.Y. at the time. Two wounded people. One of whose wounds are very apparent and the other more mysterious. It's a love story, but one I've never quite seen before. Two people very vulnerable and troubled who come together in odd circumstance, but find a sort of destined relationship based on gentleness, safety and mutual need. What starts out as claustrophobic becomes a safe place, a room of one's own. Carroll Baker made some of my favorite films of that time, and her then husband Jack Garfein, who co- wrote and directed, brings a tragic personal biography to his work. Ralph Meeker, a very fine actor who never got the roles and acclaim he should have is superb in this as a character I've never seen before in any film. Yes, a lot of time is spent in one shabby room, but that is what its about, isn't it? Mildred Dunnock? Well there was never anyone like her. Aaron Copeland contributed a magnificent score and the cinematography is seamless with the story. Enigmatic ending, perhaps, but that's life. I found it perfectly true to the characters.

Grace and Frankie (2015–2022)

It Tugs Itself, Then Tries to Tug You

[4/10 · 2 June 2015]

Who is not an admirer of the four principals of this show? And they are certainly the only reason to spend anytime with this well-meaning, even brave attempt to stretch the boundaries of the TV Sit-Com. The ultimate failure, and I have seen all the episodes of the first season, I believe, is due primarily to the scripts and the tug-of-war apparent in almost every episode to decide whether to go for verisimilitude or the joke. Well, the joke usually wins in TV as it does here, but because it comes from some idea of a higher purpose unrealized that fell short, the joke falls flat. Dead ends abound in the plot. Interesting characters, played by interesting actors, appear, then disappear. Can you have comedy and truth? Of course. If we believe in the reality of the characters, we will laugh at their predicaments, particularly if they resonate with our own life and experience. The four stars soldier on tugging at our admiration for their skills in mining ore from gravel, but the equally important actors playing their four children do not have these skills and seem to be in something like "Saved By the Bell." And within the episode, is still the tension of the indecision of whether all this means something or is just another set of television circumstances to elicit a laugh or two. And tension is a comedy killer.

Back in Circulation (1937)

The Warner Bros. Sizzle

[8/10 · 5 April 2015]

If you are a fan of 1930's Warners, you can't miss this one. Joan Blondell is Timothea "Timmy" Blake, ace reporter for editor Pat O'Brian's headline screaming tabloid. The plot races around a "show girl with a past", the improbably cast, sweet-faced Margaret Lindsey accused of poisoning her no-good older husband whom nobody misses. Timmy doesn't buy it, but she helped build the case for indictment. Lindsey is in love with the good doctor John Litel for some reason even though he seems a bit thick. Go figure. It's all wrapped in a furious flurry of patented Warner's can't -wait -to -get -home speed with what must be 14 lbs. of dialogue crammed into an hour- fifteen or so. It's Blondell's movie and she is feisty, sexy, always surprising and has a mean right hook. Pat O'Brian was some kind of master at machine gunning lines out of an immobile face. For a big man who moves slowly, he can sure cut with the greased patter. The WB character roster, always a reason to watch these films, is well-represented by Regis Toomey, Eddie Acuff, and the always amusing Granville Bates. You won't have a chance to breathe.

Maps to the Stars (2014)

Arsenic Tinsel

[8/10 · 3 March 2015]

Always a provocateur, a horror iconoclast, and a gripping story-teller, David Cronenberg slices and dices Hollywood families in this darkest of dark humor films. But what other way would you tell of the story of a town where celebrity is power, money is fuel, and rumors are secrets that have yet to see daylight. And everybody's got them. It's a town where a success necessitates a comeback and failure means a big bill from the publicist and rehabilitation on all levels. This is also a story of family, although I use that word not in its usual meaning, but as a group of people who are, if anything, over-related. There is no better or braver actress these days than Julianne Moore and she never disappoints. John Cusack is coming into his acting prime and creates a chilling, complicated father who is not like anything else I've seen in father characters on the screen. The "bad seed" atmosphere of Hollywood where movie stars once hid their out of wedlock children, lied to them about their parentage and "adopted" them later is well documented. Cronenberg has his own twist to history and movies here dipping into "Chinatown", "The Day of the Locusts" etc. So there is little new in the plot, but believe me, you will still be clobbered. He keeps you unsettled throughout. Mia Wasikowska will unsettle you if nothing else. This is a horror film in the best sense of the term.

Timbuktu (2014)

The Soul of Man

[10/10 · 19 February 2015]

I talked about this film to a Muslim taxi driver in New York City. He had not seen it, but wrote down the title and said he would. He wanted to talk about Socrates, the Prophet, and belief being necessary for the soul. I said the movie is about nothing less than man's soul and his right to live the life it dictates, whether in religious study and worship to a deity or simply to herd cattle, treasure your family, and strum your guitar. "Timbuktu" is a work of art that packs the emotional power for film goers of the first time you saw "The Yearling" as a child, or "The Bicycle Thief" as an adult. By telling this tale at the simplest level, the director has given the viewer a chance to become wiser, which few films ever do. You will ask yourself questions as you think about it later, (I saw it alone), and I would venture to say there are scenes within it you will carry with you forever. The film is very much concerned with our world that we live in today. Even though set in the desert and a small village in Africa, it tells of life being lived today anywhere. Most everything that bedevils modern humans comes to play in this story of family, society, technology, religious zealotry and power over others. Take your soul to see it.

Cold in July (2014)

Filmed in NY, Take That Texas

[8/10 · 8 February 2015]

Worthwhile thriller that takes a 180 degree turn before its all over. Michael C. Hall excellent as an ordinary guy running a frame shop who defends his family against an intruder. But then things get just a bit weird. Sam Shepherd plays an ex-con with a strange sense of justice. Don Johnson livens things up as a pig farming lawman. And there's Johnson's red convertible which reminds us of how cars used to take up much more of the highway. It's a beer drinker of a movie with plenty of sawed-off violence.

Jim Mickel filmed it in upstate New York, but it's Texas all the way. Lanny Flaherty shows up as a town drunk. Plenty of chills here too as the movie keeps the story off balance through most of the film.

This is a movie that could get lost quick and shouldn't.

Begin Again (II) (2013)

Once Was Enough

[3/10 · 30 January 2015]

You can get so far ahead of this picture, you may have to go to the corner for snacks and back to let it catch up. If you don't see a plot development coming, they will sing a song about it. Don't worry. I have a soft spot for movies about music and musicians who triumph although the music is undeniably terrible. And it is. Keira Knightley, I assume, does her own whispery, little girl singing and the acting is in the mumble, behavioral style which is sure-fire to glaze your interest in most any of the characters. We are told much was improvised. Much like the music that was not written because no one here reads music or can compose. Songs are "written" in diaries or on crumpled pieces of paper lending them "authenticity" in this type of sing spiel. Mark Ruffalo gives the film some weight and humor, as he always does, but he's wasted in this less than middle-brow pawn to the pop music industry. Knightley looks anorexic and actually seems to lose weight during the film and developed a prominent under bite by the end. James Corden has enough to do to show he could be a major film actor with the right script. Cinematography shows New York's lower east side at its seediest. Catherine Keener, as fine an actress in films as there is, gets the thankless ex role.

Men at Work (2006)

A Rock and a Hard Place

[8/10 · 17 December 2014]

Highly recommended for its human comedy and revealing, fine acting. You won't see something like this coming out of Hollywood. The story is almost a shaggy dog, but keeps out of sentiment or farce. Male bonding, unbonding, rebonding, coming to the realization of aging and the mysteries of friendship. You'll feel better about Iranians after the film, so it's also a "feel good" movie. A fine example of film being a universal language. You will remember it as if you were along on the trip yourself. The cast is superb and works with a good ensemble feel, including a couple of wives/sweethearts who are searching for the men on the mountain road and some passersby who can't help but stop and get in on the action, including an old man with a donkey who plays an integral part. The donkey, that is. Tip - top.

Bicycling with Molière (2013)

Bicycle Built for Two

[10/10 · 7 December 2014]

Perhaps it's because I am an actor myself with a great love for Moliere, but this gem of a film delighted. The unique Fabrice Luchini is Serge Tanneur, a once renowned actor living in self- imposed retirement in an old inherited house on the Ile de Re'. The living, breathing Alceste of The Misanthrope, he rails against life, the plumbing in his crumbling house, and spends his time cycling along the sea front. Gaulthier Valence, a famous actor, "Dr. Morange" in a TV series in which he plays a brain surgeon who can operate during a hurricane while melting the hearts of French women everywhere, is producing Moliere's Misanthrope so he can play Alceste. he travels to see Tanneur to convince him to return to the stage to play a supporting role. But Tanneur has been working on the role of Alceste for 30 years and isn't about to play a lesser part. And he doesn't want to act anymore anyway. Instead, he wants to rehearse for four days with Valence to gauge whether or not he wants to come back. They flip a coin each day to see who will play who.The relationship between the two is the crux of the story. Mercurial, intense, frustrating, loving, cruel, all the ingredients of Moliere's great play with two very fine actors. I have rarely seen the inner life of actors so revealed. Maya Sansa plays an Italian woman of some mystery who adds a touch of romance. It all ends just the way it would. Exceptional film from Philippe Le Guay.

Raiders from Beneath the Sea (1964)

Scuba Boobs Take Catalina

[1/10 · 30 November 2014]

If you love scuba heist movies with a grating inappropriate travelogue score, this is your meat and potatoes. Ken Scott, 6 feet five of unrelenting blandness plays an apartment manager married to Merry Anders, loyal and supportive to this lunk, which is the only mystery here. Her brother-in-law lives with them too swilling beer and peeping on his brother's sister when she changes to "go out on the terrace for some sun." Somehow they make all this extremely unseedy. She even goes to church. But hubby has thought up a preposterous plan to rob a bank on Catalina Island with his old pal and mentor, "Tuck," in full diving gear and spear guns, then escape underwater before the cops come. To see them come up out of the water and stroll nonchalantly across the street to rob the bank is the highlight of our film. They don't even leave any wet footprints. Naturally, they run into a cop who tells them wearing scuba suits and masks and fins and carrying spear guns inside the city limits is unlawful. I'm not making this up. They did. Had a good giggle.

The Smiling Ghost (1941)

Sometimes B-Fun is as Good as A-Fun

[7/10 · 16 September 2014]

A surprisingly snappy little mystery comedy with Wayne Morris in his juvenile days sporting a patented brand of big guy innocence that he was very good with. Shortly afterward he went off to be a Navy flier and war hero, only to return to a Hollywood that had turned cold. Brenda Marshall plays a spunky, sassy reporter and is sexier than Alexis Smith which is no mean achievement. Willie Best shows why the prevailing racial attitudes kept a major talent from blossoming. He was truly a great comedian underneath the necessary character feature of a low I.Q. that all black actors of the day had to assume.Here, he's not quite so dumb and gets to use his formidable physical skills. I would urge to pull the curtain back a bit if you can and realize what a waste of talent it all was. No reason to go into the plot, its a farce with many funny lines and a very eccentric family which is a mainstay of many comedies of the 30s and 40s. Crisp, silly and warming.

The Hot Heiress (1931)

One For the Bucket

[4/10 · 4 August 2014]

Not many musical comedies feature a riveter as the leading man. Ben Lyon is Hap Harrigan singing tunes about how only his mother loves a riveter across the steel beams he traverses with Broadway ease. He and his partner Bill Dugan, played by Tom Dugan, espy the comely Ona Munson asleep with the windows open next door in her high-rise Park Ave. apartment. Gob- smacked by this vision, Hap misses a hot rivet thrown his way and it lands in the apartment and starts a fire. Naturally, the boys hop into the apartment to save this half-naked damsel who is grateful enough to fall in love with Hap. She's out of his league, as they say, but even though she's rich, she likes the simpler things like working class muscular riveters. Rogers and Hart wrote some ditties for the picture. Inez Courtney is the most fun as Dugan's girlfriend and there's a young Walter Pigeon as the snobby alternative. Stiff and confused, he looks to be three feet taller than than everyone else. An early talkie, its still interesting even if just from an archaeological perspective. Boy and girl meet cute, love at first rivet, boy and girl break up, boy and girl end together happily.

Children of Pleasure (1930)

Lower the Cheesecloth

[3/10 · 30 July 2014]

Lawrence Gray plays Danny Regan, composer of popular love songs. The shy sort who can only express himself through syrup and corn in his music. He falls hard for a beautiful society blonde who has been through most of the eligible men on Broadway, but Danny offers the convenience of "all I have to do is push a button and I get a love song"., which is enough to impress her family and friends. Wynne Gibson plays the loyal gal Friday who loves him and May Boley is Fanny Kaye, Broadway star. Why she is a star is not amply shown by the two numbers she's in or, really any of the scenes. Benny Rubin is her piano player and perhaps boyfriend who makes cruel jokes about her which are supposed to be funny, but aren't. Most of the musical numbers look under-rehearsed, particularly a black face routine early on with Boley. Judith Wood or Helen Johnson, as she is billed here is the Park Ave. mankiller who causes all the trouble and gives a very interestingly terrible performance. Most of the cast went on with their lives, but not with their careers, except Rubin, of course. Still, even though this film is bad, bad, bad. Its fun, fun, fun.

Winner Take All (1932)

Caulifowers for the Lady

[7/10 · 20 July 2014]

Winner Take All is an early Cagney punch and rudie, in which he plays Jimmy Kane, a fighter with an ambiguous relationship to the ring. Although a top contender, he's taking off for a rest to a dude spa out west. He says his goodbyes at the Garden and even allows the fight fans to throw money into the ring to speed him on his way. A pre-Gabby George Hayes welcomes him to the Rancho. He meets s single mother with a small child, the always terrific Dickie Moore. Cagney is sporting a bulbous nose and puffy ears and talks through lower eastside mush, but he's always the man. Soon he's back in the ring in a grueling bout in Mexico to raise money for his new sweetheart. The character of Kane is interesting because he seems to have no ties to anyone and is a loner of an extreme even Cagney didn't play much. Cagney, of course excels. There is a nifty little scene with Ralfe Harold who sells hot jewelry, and Virginia Bruce, who should have been a much bigger star, scorches the furniture in every scene she's in. I'll take V.B. any day over most of the other '30s fire-eaters . This picture was new to me and deserves a place in the pantheon of Warner Bros. fast and snappys, if only for the scene where Cagney delays Bruce's ship sailing.

Fight for Your Lady (1937)

Relax, We're Joking

[8/10 · 15 July 2014]

Consistent throughout. Long-tailed gags, mugging by Oakie, actual acting by the young Ida Lupino, a funny villainess in Margot Graham, the inimitable Billy Gilbert, solid support from Paul Guilfoyle all add up to a nice little meringue if you are so inclined. John Boles sings "Blame it on the Danube" with Frank Loesser lyrics, "feeling okay from too much Tokay." The setting is Budapest so there are several goulash jokes. Erik Rhodes is quite funny as a champion dueler with "a sort of mother complex." Lupino plays his little sister who has a ventriloquist act with the blandest dummy ever who sings. Nothing makes particular sense. Nor should it.

The Naked Man (II) (1999)

Feel the Marshmallow

[8/10 · 26 April 2014]

Was unaware of this, and believe me as much as I love movies, I feel no shame about that. However, this is a must-see for those of us who crave escape into silliness occasionally. The Naked Man is the wrestling moniker of a mild mannered chiropractor with a brutal, but golden touch played by Michael Rappaport, Brooklyn's answer to Gary Busey. All he seeks in life is reunion with his father, a stern pharmacist and believer in pills, and to be a provider to his "best girl" and soon-to-be-born son. However, chilling tragedy strikes in a hilarious Ethan Coen way which sends our back stretcher on a wild mission of revenge in his wrestling persona aided by Delores, a biker babe liberally pierced. Their targets are Sticks Verona, a drug kingpin played by an always funny Michael Jeter, and his driver of the huge semi that he lives in, an Elvis clone who lives on peanut butter sandwiches with bacon. Also, the jewel in the cast, a chain smoking detective wearing a six month shirt and a raincoat that even Columbo would Goodwill, is played by that unique actor Joe Grifasi. There is a long, dialogue-free, classic scene of the beginning of his day that is a gem. Half a load on will get you through the awful parts to the good stuff which is inspired. Shameless fun.

Dangerously They Live (1941)

Sporadically They Amuse

[4/10 · 6 March 2014]

This is a "spies among us" movie of World War ii with a fairly outrageous plot concerning a woman played by Nancey Coleman who may or may not be an amnesia victim who comes under the care of a young intern, John Garfield. She's been in a rather grisly taxi wreck. She has no cuts, bruises apparent, but can't remember who she is. Moroni Olsen shows up and claims to be her Father. Whenever Moroni Olsen appears in a film, you can be sure something is up. Raymond Massey is called in as a suspiciously too affable specialist. There are Nazis at work here. We know because when we are in their clubhouse behind a delicatessen, there are swastikas on the wall. Usually a dead give-away. There is a creepy mansion with a creepy staff and the butler wears a pistol under his frock coat. Robert Florey, a French director, who was never quite given his due in the studio days adds some European touches here and there, including a funny shot of a dead body rising on a silent butler. Mr. Florey does menace well.

Flowing Gold (1940)

Mud, Oil, Dust and Ukeles

[9/10 · 6 March 2014]

A Warner Bros. gusher with the old, old story. Two heroes vie for one girl and only one can go home with her. John Garfield, a roughneck oil worker on the lam teams up with Pat O'Brien to bring in a well for Wildcat Chalmers, the treasured Raymond Walborn, and his daughter Linda, played by the very special Frances Farmer. Yes, its an old story and this studio made this movie time and again in various settings, but it never really gets old because of the Warner stars and the breakneck pace and energy. Cliff Edwards is along with his uke as "Hotrocks" and Granville Bates at his most sour. All three leads are superb, but especially Ms. Farmer, who at her best, was one of the most natural screen actresses of her day and very much her own woman. She's fascinating. Good, solid, satisfying movie.

The Great Beauty (2013)

Better Than Anything I've Seen in 2013

[10/10 · 9 February 2014]

La grande bellezza is what great film art is all about. That is a stupid cliché, because I've just come from seeing it and I should have waited until its effects have subsided. One of the most gratifying films I've seen in many years. It is like staying up all night talking at an outdoor cafe in the shadow of the Trevi with the love of your life. Its not easy for one without much Italian as the words come at you and the images are equally strong and your eyes get a work out. The film will take you many places before dawn and that first coffee. Bravo Sorrentino. I suspect the film will be different for different people, but that's poetry.

Raw Deal (1948)

He Shoulda Stayed in the Can

[8/10 · 22 August 2013]

Good, tough stuff from director Anthony Mann and a real film noir to use that battered term. Dennis O'Keefe is Joe Sullivan, small-time crook who has taken the fall for bigger-time crook Raymond Burr as Rick Coyle. Coyle sets up a breakout for Sullivan, figuring the chances are very good Sullivan will be killed in the escape, eliminating a nagging concern Coyle has that he may be a target for revenge when Sullivan gets out. Enter Claire Trevor (need I say more) as Sullivan's girl and voice/over narrator. Marsha Hunt is on hand to make sure we don't think all women are bad, and the unlikely trio hit the road stealing taxis,evading roadblocks,and hi-jacking gas station vehicles. It's moody, well-shot and moves along like a '48 Buick. This is the kind of movie that you're waiting for Whit Bissell to show up. He does. O'Keefe is always effective in this type of grim and grit and John Ireland is a hard-to-kill thug, a type that he excelled at. Burr is on target as a weaselly crime creep with an interest in flame. This one is worth anyone's time, particularly if you love the genre. The script isn't much, but these are pros who can bring it off. But the title should have been "Corkscrew Alley".

Station West (1948)

Philip Marlow Goes West

[7/10 · 28 July 2013]

Sidney Lanfield was one of those very competent, but unsung directors who knew what they were about and could make a good western. The plot gets a bit tangled here and there; its an oater with a Raymond Chandler style wisecracking detective, but with boots on. And who better than Dick Powell to out-sass the bad guys. The young Jane Greer somehow pulls off a world-weary saloon owner named "Charlie". She was always astonishing and for 1947 runs circles around all the male characters including Powell. There's a good, well-staged fist fight between Powell and Guinn Williams, some Arizona landscapes worthy of John Ford and the uncredited Burl Ives as a sort of chorus to the action and philosophical hotel keeper. Olin Howland shows up as a cook with attitude. Raymond Burr as a craven lawyer and Regis Toomey makes his required appearance. Also, Agnes Moorhead as a nice lady for a change. A western with a twist. You almost expect the dudes in the saloon to be drinking martini's.

Riffraff (1947)

Raffish and a Riff on Noir

[8/10 · 30 June 2013]

Surprisingly entertaining dirty white suit movie with the lumbering Pat O'Brien keeping up for the most part with its fast pacing. O'Brien plays Dan Hammer, a sort of Mr. Fixit for anyone who needs something done within his code of ethics which ends short of murder, but a crisp bill buys his help on most other things. Mysterious strangers drop into his life, all competing for a mysterious map and all willing to pay. Anne Jeffreys is the blonde who may be after the map herself or maybe just wants to sing songs like "Money is the Root of all Evil" in a standard RKO tropical nightclub. Percy Kilbride is Hammer's driver and aide in a comedy cab. Walter Slezak is an excellent villain and rather fine artist who doodles while his henchmen pound the daylights out of O'Brien. Its all a lot of fun with some snappy dialogue and a noirish treatment from the director with many nice touches. Is Jerome Cowan in it too? You bet.

Billy Budd (1962)

Salty and Unforgettable

[10/10 · 6 February 2013]

I first saw this film at age 18, and was not ready for the language and psychological underpinnings of the story, but a great story it is. Classic in the sense of a story for all time and and riveting in its humanity. No film captures better the physical conditions of the way sailors lived in the British navy of the Napoleonic Wars. The claustrophobia, the constant movement of the ship over the deep "full of monsters surviving because of the sharpest teeth" as the Master of Arms John Claggert notes. Claggert is memorably played by Robert Ryan, perhaps one of Hollywood's most under-sung actors. His Claggert is a man who seems to be devouring himself with acidic self-hatred. What the world has made him is the doom of Billy Budd, the newly impressed seaman who is the very persona of guileless innocence. These two are headed for tragedy and how they get there is the basis of the film. Very fine actors all around such as John Neville, Paul Rogers, and a young David McCallum lend credence to a shattering conclusion that I found still quite moving in a recent viewing on TCM. Peter Ustinov who directed and wrote the screenplay and plays the Captain was equal to the task in all those roles. One of my favorite top- ten movies of the sea with a story that will never grow old. Neither will Herman Melville's novel.

Friends with Kids (2011)

Kids Who Are Friends

[1/10 · 11 April 2012]

An awful comedy starring two of the more inept actors working today in Adam Scott and Jennifer Westfeldt. The two play best friends who decide to have a child together and escape the problems of an actual living, breathing marriage. If that sounds selfish, narcissistic, and dumb and a recipe for psychological child abuse, you're not wrong. The film pretends to be about modern relationships, but its not. It's about sex. The three couples in this movie have literally nothing else on their minds. All conversations result in a joke about sex. Maya Rudolph has some funny moments, the wonderful Kristin Wiig is not really present in this movie, and Jon Hamm and Chris O'Dowd are, well, pleasant. The Adam Scott character is misogynist, self-absorbed and down right creepy. The Westfeldt character is whiny, unattractive and brainless. There is no wit to the inane script full of vagina jokes, masturbation jokes, poopie jokes, and penis jokes. Not one of them funny. And toward the end, it even wants you to take the whole thing seriously. What can you say about a movie where Edward Burns plays THE PERFECT MAN.