Review of Trust the Man

Caught this on cable. Lot's of snarky, but often times quite clever dialogue. Serious adult relationship issues are handled extremely lightly. Though, billed as a romantic comedy – it's far more a comedy than romance. In fact, it may actually be more a farce than a romance film.

Duchovny and Gyllenhaal are a pleasure to watch on screen – they are so good at what they do – I'd love to see a film where they are the leads in a relationship with each other. Here, Duchovny couples with Moore (who is always solid, but somewhat un-effecting here. And Gyllenhaal with Crudup who feels acutely miscast. His role was screaming for Keanu Reeves of a Pauly Shore.

This rickety (and oft times empty-feeling production) at leas has a script and stars (especially Duchovny) that deliver lots of edgy little subtle jokes. The dialogue is crisp and crunchy, but the romance is nearly completely absent save for the climax that for that reason feels out of place, but nonetheless sweet syrupy (if a little cliché) – anyway, it choked me up. It should have stopped with that gain, but oversteps to resolve complication number two. (And whatever happened to the children's book? And we only get one small scene with Shandling? Totally not fair!)

2/10