The Ex

In this movie we see Tom Reilly getting sacked as a cook in Manhattan and starting over in Ohio at the ad agency, where his father-in-law is the assistant director.Tom and his wife Sofia have their first child.What causes trouble in Tom's new life is Chip, the man in a wheelchair.Chip happens to be Sofia's ex-boyfriend from high school.Tom doesn't trust that guy.The Ex (2006) is directed by Jesse Peretz.The movie was a pretty big failure, but I don't see it as such a huge turkey.Zach Braff gives a great performance in the lead as Tom Reilly.Amanda Peet is very good as Sofia.Jason Bateman's character Chip Sanders is not the most likable, but his performance is good.I really enjoyed watching the work of Charles Grodin, who plays Bob Kowalski.In his character you can find a pretty big deal of tragicomedy.Before this movie Charles hadn't done one single movie in 12 years, and after this he hasn't done any.Mia Farrow is terrific as his wife Amelia.Amy Poehler plays Carol Lane.Paul Rudd is Leon.Fred Armisen plays Manny.Donald Logue is Don Wollebin.Amy Adams portrays Abby March.Marin Hinkle plays the part of Karen.As a movie this doesn't shine in anyways.It may have some potential, but that's all.Some of the characters in this movie are a bit annoying, like that kid.And of course Chip.But it is a bit funny sometimes.Like when Tom tries to prove that Chip can walk.So this is a movie you can check out when you got the time, and you may even like it.

Zach Braff ("Scrubs"), Amanda Peet ("Studio 60..") and Jason Bateman ("Arrested Development") help this little film just over the "average" bar. Even though their characters are pretty shallow, they put in a good performance and partly succeed in making you forget about the shabby script. There are a couple of funny moments, but without this cast the movie would have fallen apart, its strictly formulaic approach and lack of any inspiration just being too obvious. It's not as bad as "The Last Kiss", but Braff should choose his options more wisely, unless he wants his well-deserved Garden State acclaim to go down the drain.

Recommended only for fans of the above-mentioned stars, the rest of you is not missing out on anything.

Just like most people who've written reviews for this film, I too was excited to hear about a film staring two great comedians like Braff and Bateman. How could you go wrong with these two? However, with two inexperienced writers and one inexperienced director; it's not hard to see where this film goes wrong.

The script is at times, very poor and extremely lacking in intelligent or deep humor, the characters are one dimensional and there are a lot of pointless and derivative scenes. There is no real chemistry between Braff and Peet and the soundtrack is somewhat lacking.

It's really awful to see such amazing talents go to waste in such a simple and shallow comedy such as this.

There are however, some great ideas in this film; the only shame is that they are not explored in their comedic entirety. Braff and Bateman are as usual, wonderful and do the best they can with the characters and the script they were given.

Writers David Guion and Michael Handelman and director Jesse Peretz must have called in a lot of favors when they made "The Ex," for how else to account for the presence of Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman, Charles Grodin, Mia Farrow, Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, Paul Rudd and Amy Adams in as slight an indie comedy as the one they have manufactured here? And "manufactured" is definitely the operative term in this case, for "The Ex" feels contrived and phony from the get-go.

After he gets fired from his job as a chef in an upscale Manhattan restaurant, Tom Reilly (Braff) moves with his wife and infant son back to her hometown in Ohio where he gets a job at the same ad agency where his father-in-law (Grodin) works. One of the employees, Chip (Bateman), an old flame of Tom's wife, Sofia (Peet), tries to sabotage Tom at every turn, undercutting him at work and trying to rekindle the romance between Sofia and himself.

"The Ex" fails on a variety of levels, but the primary one is that, while it is supposed to be a satire of small town, middle American values, most of the characters - with their New-Age quirkiness and bohemian eccentricities - seem as if they'd be more at home living in some converted loft in Soho than on a tree-lined street in suburban Ohio. The setting of "The Ex" doesn't feel like Anyplace, USA; in fact, it doesn't feel like anyplace, period, except maybe the fantasy world of two overpaid Hollywood screenwriters. Add to this an assortment of unappealing and unappetizing characters, a tendency towards sitcom-level humor and plotting, and an over-reliance on heavy-handed slapstick and sight gags, and you have one of the major comedy disappointments of 2007. Braff is definitely a talented actor, but "The Ex" is a career path misfire that should be mercifully forgotten

If I were to look at it, I would say The Ex aka Fast Track forms a loose trilogy of sorts with regards to growing up, and somewhat like a natural progression in the different stages of life that Zach Braff's characters form when stringed together. With Garden State, it's in the 20s where you're having a feel for the ground, exploring your options and not knowing exactly what life will dish out to you.With One Last Kiss, so you think that you're dead sure about your other half, you're getting married and vowing to spend the rest of your lives together, and suddenly an ingenue comes along, and cast doubts about that.

Plenty of what-will-you-do moments, with outcome that are different depending on your values, but totally possible, and brought out earnestly through Braff's performance as the everyday man. In The Ex, Zach Braff plays the blue collar salaryman whose hotshot lawyer wife had just given birth and as agreed, she'll be a stay home mum. But he just got fired from his job, thus sending their agreement into red alert zone. Taking up his father in law's offer, he uproots himself, wife and baby and starts work in a new age advertising company, only to meet up with his wife's ex.

You'd come to expect the usual jokes about not fitting into a totally different corporate culture with its own idiosyncrasies, conflict with the parents, and the constant threat posed by the wife's ex Chip Sanders played by Jason Bateman, which I bet almost every male would want to kill given his attitude and back stabbing nature. It's classic office politics at work as we root for the survival of Zach's Tom Reilly, though at times you'd expect him to have a little more backbone, and a little bit of smarts to survive the jungle out there.

If that sounds a little like Meet The Parents, it does. And it also is styled after Just Friends in the rivalry department, where two guys do battle over a girl, only that this time, it's the third party up against a married couple. Though I'd say it again, nothing beats riling you up when you see how the bastard at work gets away with almost everything, and get incensed with his obvious intentions to bang his ex, i.e. the wife.

The flow of the movie did seem a little broken at times, which I suspect that there were a lot more filmed than was put on screen, perhaps saving them for the DVD release. The ideas injected into the movie were numerous, but that made for the narrative feeling a little scattered. For instance, Amanda Peet as the wife Sofia Kowalski didn't really have much to do except nurse the baby, and be in some of the most trying comedic scenes such as the ones involving yoga.

Fans of Braff will not want to miss yet another familiar performance, and remember to stay tune during the credits for a coda, as well as various bloopers, some of which are genuinely funnier than the bits that made it to the movie.