Sunday, September 24, 2006

TRUST THE MAN - harmless date movie for people with nice handbags

TRUST THE MAN is a film that I really rather enjoyed in a mild sort of giggly way despite its obvious and manifest flaws. It's a slushy romantic-comedy set in Woody Allen's New York. By which I mean that it's the kind of New York where people have cool, artsy jobs - like being an actress or writing a book - and hang out in Sardis or Marc Jacobs. It focuses on two couples, both of which contain a sensible nice woman and a flaky, mid-life crisis-y man. And the idea is that the men have to go off and be flaky before redeeming themselves with a slushy plea for love at the end. So, the movie has a deeply formulaic and slushy story-line and one of the most trite, plagiarised endings I have ever seen. But there is some stuff to like here. While the plot arc is conventional, some of the dialogue by writer-director Bart Freundlich is witty in a low-key giggly sort of way. It also stars a bunch of great actors - not least Freundlich's wife, Julianne Moore, Billy Crudup, David Duchovny and Maggie Gyllenhaal. There are also two scene-stealing cameos from Ellen Barkin and James Le Gros. Overall, what to say? Is this a must-see movie? No. Will it have you rolling in the aisle with laughter? No. But is it a pleasant way to pass an hour or so? Yes. It's a harmless date movie for people with nice hand-bags.

TRUST THE MAN was released in the Israel and the US in August. It is currently on release in the UK and Denmark and opens in Brazil next Friday. It opens in Taiwan, Australia and Italy in October and in France in November 2006. It opens in Argentina in Argentina in January 2007.