If I Were You

This is one of the best comedies I have seen in years - I go to the movies a lot! The writing is smart, philosophical, quick witted. The plot comes up with surprise after surprise. You cannot predict the next move at all. The film is laugh-out-loud funny. The audience will put themselves in the shoes of these wonderfully rich characters and go through a fun emotional journey. Zany but plausible! The acting is stellar. I've always been a big fan of Marcia Gay Harden so I am thrilled to see her in a film of this caliber. The big question is "Why isn't this film in more theaters? I accidentally stumbled on this film. If not for that, I never would have seen it. Why? Marketing people ... distribution people ... GET THIS FILM TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC! We need to laugh ... not AT people which happens so often in films these days ... we need to laugh along with the genius of this film!

This is an intelligent and funny movie, well worth watching, even if for the first act alone. Harden and Watling are genuinely entertaining to watch. They have great chemistry, playing off each other beautifully. The film's only flaws are in the somewhat uneven plot, and a couple of very minor characters with sub-par acting -- the waitress in the opening scene must be surely be the producer's sister or something.

The first act is surprisingly great. I literally laughed out loud. The concept is also super fun and intriguing. Marcia Gay Harden's every move is perfect as Madeline, the prim and proper, confused working wife. Leonor Watling also gives a wonderful performance as Lucy. She gives Lucy exactly the right blend of naïvete, savviness, and genuine innocence, which allows us to care about Lucy even if she doesn't always do the right thing.

The second act continues at a pretty good pace. However, to keep from dragging, the middle of the movie craved a couple of extra plot complications.

In the third act, the tone of the movie shifts considerably. Now If I Were You is a drama, and a major new character is introduced. The story would have been even stronger if it could have retained more of the fun-loving spirit of the first act.

Overall, If I Were You gets a 6.5 . . . since that's not an option, 7.

If I Were You (2012)

Be careful—the first twenty minutes of this movie is so bad (or bad seeming) with improbable dialog and kind of "stupid" characters (and maybe inept actors). Or so it all appears. Keep watching. This smooths out quickly, and you get used to the farcical style, so that by the end it all seems normal and pretty fun.

The idea is simple, and explained really well in the movie. Two women find they can't make good decisions for themselves, so they agree to make decisions for each other. Big stuff, like whether to date someone, or what to say to end a relationship. And so when a biggie comes up they have to call the other person for instructions.

This is tied together brilliantly by a simple first scene (which doesn't give much away, but skip this paragraph if you want the first five minutes of the movie untouched). One woman sees her husband cheating on her with the other (younger) woman. The older woman then sees the younger buy the stuff for a suicide, so follows her to save her. The younger woman thinks this is absolutely beautiful (which it is). And the friendship and the pact are formed.

But of course there is this secret lingering, and a husband who calls (and gets calls from) the two women for different reasons.

As you can imagine, the complications are hilarious.

The other theme that gets going is King Lear, the play, and how the two women get involved with that and why. It's a nice layer that actually doesn't get used very well until near the end when the older woman gives a eulogy quoting the Shakespeare she's been learning. The fellow actors are all terrible on purpose, but they are also thin and clumsy in the movie, especially the director who overacts to distraction.

By contrast, our two women play their roles to a kind of comic perfection. The older, played by Marcia Gay Harden, is actually the key protagonist, and is wonderful. Her younger friend, Leonor Watling, is terrific, too, and a perfect complement. Whatever the other outcomes of the movie, you end up hoping these rivals become good friends.

I have to open by saying I've always enjoyed Marcia Gay Harden. But I was a little worried that comedy might not be her strength. I was happily wrong. She delivers a joke well, very well at times and she carries the 2 hour movie right through to the end. She puts her own style into it too, which is memorable.

The movie is light entertainment but it's not irritating. It weaves it's own little path and pops out the other end with a smile on it's face. This is probably going to sound mean but the secondary characters were neither here nor there and only served as billboards for Marcia to graffiti. Though Aiden Quinn does carve out a few good moments for his character.

But It's Marcia's show and she steps up well. Well worth it if you're perhaps on the upper side of 40 and looking for something light, funny and mostly clean.

What you might expect from a movie about two women, one who is lovely, older, wiser, and not as firm, the other lovely, young and not very bright, except for when it comes to manipulation and adoration of the physical and the moment, would not be what you get in If I Were You . It's a movie that does not underestimate the buddy aspect of a romp, and it turns that inside out by using traditional methods, straight (wo)man, loose limbed physical comedy, and adds a dose of heartbreak not only in the realm of love, but in all relationships including friendship and parent child. It's an exceptional vehicle for Harden and one she readily deserves as she is overlooked and underused in so many ways.