aromatic-2

In the early 80's, the Reaganites were making much of the decay of family values and problems caused by the women's movement and affirmative action. Hollywood's play on these angles was one of muted amusement. Of the bland comedies made on the subject matter during this period, "He's Fired, She's Hired" is probably blander than most and rather typical of the genre. The chemistry between old TV-vets Valentine and Rogers is funny and, at times, surprisingly hot. Howard E. Rollins as a good supporting turn as an executive. Painless, unchallenging, and thoroughly unoriginal fare, and certainly more fun as a time capsule than "That '80's Show."

The premise is intriguing. The parallel structures work for two-thirds of the film. So much effort was put in by Cage in distinguishing the physical expressions and deportments of Charlie and Donald that he neglected to create a true working intimacy with Donald's soul. Hence, Donald's soul does not exist for the viewer, and he seems more like a gimmicky parlor trick than Charlie's actual brother. This, in turn, makes it difficult to care about Donald. But, Charlie is such a whiny one-note ball of angst that he doesn't come close to engaging our real interest for an entire movie. Where director Spike Jonze still has captured our imagination with his mastery of duality is with the Chris Cooper character. Cooper's performance was indeed worthy of the Oscar he won. Meryl Streep seems at times to be reprising her portrayal of author Mary Fisher from She-Devil. At times, this is engaging and amusing, but given the gravity the situation soon assumes, it proves to be too shallow a guise to sustain her character's dark side. The cameos featuring Malkovich, Keener, and Cusack are brilliant.

But, the last half hour falls apart so completely that anything positive that preceded it is deluged by its excesses.

Jeffrey Tambor plays a middle-aged man who plays jazz in the evenings. His relationships (so typical of guys like this!) are sex-only with 25-year-old bimbos and jazz groupies. Then, when he loses interest (Hello, you have nothing to talk to them about) and has a disturbing dream, he decides he might be gay, and goes to a gay bar by accident. I'd dismiss this as slapstick absurdity, but the truth is that I've met too many guys like this, and Tambor is 100% right on the mark. Bill Duke is excellent as his jazz-playing buddy. He also has a poignant scene with Michael McKean as a lonely transsexual. When he meets Jill Clayburgh (in the gay bar by mistake with girlfriends Sandy Duncan and Caroline Aaron), he thinks she is a transvestite or transsexual. She is so amazed at what an ass this guy is, she decides to give him enough rope to hang himself, and winds up, much to her surprise, enjoying his company, and thus, the romance begins.

To say much mire would spoil it, but their chemistry is magnificent, and despite a few unnecessary slapsticky moments with Tambor's mother in the film, most of it is refreshing and enchanting. If you're over 40, and especially if you've ever been a single woman dating in a big city, watch and enjoy!