5 Answers »

1. Jessica Rice on December 3rd, 2009 at 12:51 pm:

   I went to see this movie on a Saturday afternoon, thinking it would be a lighthearted romantic comedy. I love Zach Braff on Scrubs and figured the movie would be good as well. In all honesty, I’m not sure why I didn’t walk out of the theater. Being in a new relationship, I felt very dis-enchanted by this film and its depiction that relationships are full of flaws and lies. While no one is perfect, I want to believe in love and believe that people can be faithful for a lifetime. This movie made me feel very skeptical and distrusting. Don’t spend your money.
   Rating: 1 / 5

2. L. bilau on December 3rd, 2009 at 2:34 pm:

   Its Zach Braff!!!! Gorgeous beautiful sexy super cool man. This movie also has an excellent soundtrack!! excellent!!!!!!!!
   Rating: 5 / 5

3. Robert Moore on December 3rd, 2009 at 3:45 pm:

   Any film that features Zach Braff and Rachel Bilson in the promo photos would, one might expect, be a romantic comedy. Both are among my favorite performers on television and I was incredibly excited about seeing the two of them together in a movie. What I discovered instead was an incredibly depressing, downbeat film about a huge number of frakked up relationships. There are no jokes, but instead a string of immensely heavy scenes about the vagaries of love. So, my bad. Only, not only mine. Whoever was in charge of casting should receive a reprimand. I don’t want to straightjacket Braff and Bilson, but you can’t put ambiguous previews and posters all over the place that don’t make it clear that this is not a comedy and have done a decent job in promoting the film. The trouble is, I’m sure they knew that people who liked Braff and Bilson would prefer a comedy to a serious film. So, they engaged in a slightly deceptive ad campaign.

   All of this would have been OK if the movie had actually been very good. But it wasn’t. It was, in fact, somewhat torturous to watch. There were a long string of emotionally horrific scenes that made for an incredibly awful movie going experience.

   What the heck were they thinking? Zach Braff and Rachel Bilson are two of the most likable, adorable performers on TV. Instead of trading on that likeability, they do all they can do to make Braff as unsympathetic as possible. Many of the other characters are treated just as harshly. Many of Tom Wilkinson and Blythe Danner’s scenes are just as painful. And Casey Affleck, who I always find a tad difficult to take, is even less likable than usual because of the horrid way he treats his wife. And another character who more or less takes on the character of a stalker of his ex-girlfriend.

   Again, what were they thinking? Imagine the pitch for the movie at the studio. “We’re gonna take Zach Braff, give him a pregnant girlfriend, have him meet a really hot girl played by utterly adorable Rachel Bilson and have him cheat on his girlfriend with her, include several other decaying relationships, and then have him treat Rachel Bilson as horribly as he treated his girlfriend. Audiences will love it!” Seriously, they could have paid me a very small amount of money and I could, as script analyst, corrected a huge amount of the crap that went into the making of this film. Thirty minutes from the end things were so messed up that there was simply no way to end it decently.

   To be honest, I should probably give this one star. But even though Zach Braff ends up being a thoroughly unlikable jerk wad, I can’t dislike completely a movie with Rachel Bilson in it. She isn’t a pillar of morality, but she is adorable. So two stars for her. But I should probably take it away because of the writing and the producers. Who the heck thought this was a good idea?

   When my daughter was five she said she wanted to see a “scary movie.” So I rented one of the later Godzilla movies. At the end of it she asked, “What was the scary part?” Well, at this end of this one I wondered what part was supposed to justify the nearly two hours of my life I devoted to watching it. Who cares who ended up with who at the end? And what about poor Kim (Rachel Bilson’s character) at the end?

   Probably the worst movie I’ve seen in 2006.

   Good soundtrack, though.
   Rating: 2 / 5

4. Thomas M. Forrester on December 3rd, 2009 at 4:35 pm:

   Many of the reviews listed here are quite well stated. I wanted to add a specific comment, one that some people are not going to like: This movie is a good illustration of the troubling state of mind of the American Woman. A few of the female characters in this move exhibit the now all too common undesirable traits of many American women – overbearing, self-centered, affected, manipulative, insecure, and most importantly untruthful to themselves. Untruthful to the point they pursue a meaningless definition of happiness & perfection (albeit heavily influenced by American media and too much corporate marketing) at the expense of eroding relationships, alienating males, and abandoning self-respect and honesty to their own hearts. Many American women, now more than ever, have lost the notion of what is truly important. And for those who have not lost sight, many are still unable to pull themselves away from the gravity of their fantasy ideals and goals long enough to consistently pursue the truly important things in life.

   The main female character uses an unplanned pregnancy as a gambit to force her boyfriend into a commitment he was not ready for. In fact she simply moved forward without his agreement as if to presume he would “come around” to her perspective – which is to say she exhibited virtually no respect for his perspective and his involvement. His fling with the brunette was not wrong, but it WAS incompatible with the main character’s master plan. It’s what he needed to do, it’s what he needed to determine if the commitment was what he wanted & what he’s ready for. But she doesn’t want to hear this. As if choosing to not hear something means it doesn’t exist or will go away. All of this is painfully accurate. American woman have an ever increasing tendency to not recognize men’s needs. Only their own. Men are not a priority, only a means. Men are not important, only an annoyance. Warning signs.

   The honorable characters in this movie are:
   
   - Josh, the main character who, while his timing is not compatible with his girlfriend’s unilateral master plan, follows his heart knowing that he has to form a commitment based on desire and not obligation. He suspects his wife-to-be suffers from this malady – societal pre-programmed mindless obsession to pursue to her own fantasy dream. At all costs. Bottom line, he attempts to commit to her, however it’s unclear if she accepts. If she does, what is clear is that she’s not worth him. If she doesn’t accept him, then we can only hope that she realizes she’s not been honest with him & their relationship wasn’t strong enough to build a positive family upon. Let’s hope. Better figure that out at the beginning, before life long commitments, than to pretend and move forward.
   
   - the older wife who separates from her husband because it doesn’t work for her & hasn’t worked for her for years. Honesty. Communication. Better late than never.
   
   - the architect Chris who decides to leave his wife because they constantly argue. His actions are the best timed & the least confrontational since he chooses to tell her before he attempts something else. His story is in contrast with Josh’s which serves to illustrate that the right thing to do is still the right thing, even if the timing is bad.

   This movie says when the chips are on the table, women have virtually no regard for men, and they will use any means necessary. True colors. This is consistent with the experience of many American men. Women are increasingly using anger and violence as tools to manipulate. The movie demonstrates this. Sex is used as a lever to steer outcomes that they prefer. There isn’t much regard for men – everything revolves around themselves. It also illustrates how men really can’t be honest with American women and can’t express themselves to American women, for if they do and it doesn’t fit within the American women’s dream world and her definition of the perfect man, women resort to their tools of intimidation & coercion and/or create a life of misery for men.

   Seriously, why would any guy want to be around such insanity? A guy worth his weight wouldn’t. Most guys just don’t know better, so they do. And they are miserable. The right path is often the hardest, the toughest, the most painful, the scariest.

   If you think Love is a feeling, you have some things to learn. Your feelings are not important to anyone else but you. If you think of Love as actions, then you know. It’s only actions, what you do for someone else, that matters. And the actions American women take towards men prove they often actually aren’t in Love with them.
   Rating: 5 / 5

5. M. Melkonian on December 3rd, 2009 at 7:25 pm:

   destroyed the disc so no one else would have to endure the misery that is this movie
   Rating: 1 / 5