Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsNot worth the rental.
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2013
I wanted to like this movie. This type of character is perfect for Ryan Reynolds and the movie had the makings (according to the other reviews I read) of being one of those low budget dark-comedy gems that turns out to be unexpectedly good.
It wasn't.
--NO SPOILER REVIEW--
We are all different people with differing opinions, but I cannot see where anyone would give this movie 5 out of 5 stars; even 4 is a stretch. The acting in this movie is average AT BEST, the flow of the plot lines are jagged, the situations depicted were almost always unrealistic, and the movie had no idea what it wanted to be. A comedy? A dark comedy? A drama? A dram-edy?
Listen: Not Ryan Reynolds' best movie and this is one of those movies that if you have very few other options in place for your viewing pleasure, you can watch this movie and not think it an absolute waste of your life if you do. Wanted to give it 2.5 out of 5, but since I can't, had to round down once I started thinking about it again.
--SPOILERS REVIEW--
Okay, this movie essentially kicks off by their group of friends talking about what they've named their penises, but more painstakingly unfortunate, every one of them, in fact, has a name for theirs. What? The main female character then goes on to exclaim she wants a husband for a New Year's resolution and she will pick from her friends (using sound reasoning only existing in the movies, mind you). About a minute or so later you get the impression Ryan Reynolds was her choice all along, but that doesn't stop this from feeling gimmicky from the start or written by a 10 year old.
Fast-forward a bit and Ryan Reynolds' life starts falling apart as soon as he's late for the ferry. Now, I'm no expert on the ways and means of aquatic-transportation, but the worker not letting him on the ferry is absolute crap. There is no one else waiting, they haven't pulled up the ramps yet, and the next ferry doesn't leave for another HOUR, there is NO REASON they couldn't let this ONE GUY aboard the ferry. A minor discrepancy, yes, but to base the start of the premise on this is, again, written by a 10 year old.
This movie is 1hr 27m 48s long (roughly) and there are two distinct parts where they spend way too much time on something that has nothing to do with the overall arch of the story. 1) When he's driving the pregnant woman to the hospital, we get the pleasure of spending almost 3+ minutes inside the car while he tells her to breath? Wow. 2) Then, when he finds out he's sterile, we get another 3+ minutes of him sitting by the river half crying/vomiting/gagging. In a 90-minute movie, you can't have 6'ish minutes of nothing.
Also, he's angry at his wife because she accidentally set the clock ahead 10 minutes, making him late, and this eventually causes him to have drinks and flirt with a hot blonde, ultimately winding up in his room with her almost naked? Again...what? Where on earth would a HAPPILY married man with a young daughter wind up in bed with another female, with his friend present at the bar (a friend who openly flirts with his wife, mind you). It doesn't matter nothing ultimately happens, and he ultimately rejects her, doesn't matter he had been drinking, IT DOES NOT MATTER, this is so cliche and undermining I took an entire star off of my review for that.
Some other points: The nurse's phone call and how professional it was, their fight when he first gets home after delivering the pregnant woman to the hospital (no chance of explaining himself, we just go right into the cliche "you're the devil, get out forever!"), Buddy's speech when he tries to convince the wife he loves her and he wants to raise "his" daughter...was some of the worst dialogue in the movie (Buddy's character development up to this point...he might as well be wallpaper). And how did the pregnant woman find out where he lived anyway if she left the hospital? Magic?
Also, the wife sleeps with Buddy (the best friend of the guy she chooses) less than a week before choosing her husband? What? And her defense of this is "But it was only you after, promise!" And another thing, at the beginning of the movie, the groom has cold feet because his fiance, during a momentary break-up, sleeps with another guy for 2 weeks? And his friend is convincing him this is normal and he's lucky? That dude needs new friends and definitely a new bride.
I'll stop there before my head explodes.