You Stupid Man

I was at first surprised on the simplicity of the movie. It didn't seem well thought-out, for one thing. When Kremnoltz's character comes up to his girl's trailer and sees it rocking back and forth, he chooses to disregard it and walks right in, which seemed very odd, period (this happens at the very start of the movie, no spoiler). It was the continuity of the scene that seemed not right, that he showed no emotion about what may be going on inside. The conversation about stars the couple keeps having was seems to live in a world of its own, like a story inside a story. These things are what I'd expect in a sitcom or soap opera. The dialogues here go by very fast, often without leaving the audience to sink in the words. There are a few points to the movie, but they were hard for me to remember for most things said didn't seem to add up to anything. I rented the movie for I'm a huge fan of Milla and expected to be impressed by her performance, nonetheless. That I was. Somehow, she managed to pull off the ridiculous jokes and coy punch lines. I hope that someone else makes a simple comedy with Milla in it, but takes some time to write it and even keeps less dialogue but more camera work to express a point, because Milla has the skills to pull off a very quality movie, which this sadly wasn't.

Meet Owen. He has a problem. You see, he's a Jew in New York. Wait, that's it? Oh, wait, no... he's got one of those girlfriends way too amazing(-looking, at least) for the unlikable jerk lead guy to get. So? Ah, she's cheating on him. Why doesn't he know? Clearly it's accepted as public knowledge in the interview that we see right after(what, that was supposed to be much later? So he *didn't* go whining to his friend immediately?). There are a couple of other glaring flaws; once the script realizes that the relationship between him and Nadine is in progress, it has another character ask why, and the BS explanation that follows is entirely without basis in what we've seen at that time. In the TV show set scene, he wouldn't have a mike, and she probably didn't, so how could the audience hear everything? The sit-com sequence right before that is the one portion where the dialog sounds right and isn't poor, and that is a clue as to what Burns can write lines for, as another reviewer also notes. He should put down the pen, seriously; yes, I get that the three men represent three kinds of love males give. So? Does that preclude them(and everyone else in this) from having personality? I'm not kidding, they are all empty, flat and obnoxious, with any exception being at most momentary. Any trait they are granted is irritating or meant to get laughs. Ah, it almost has a point here and there. After the half-way mark this finally decided to hold genuine substance, but by then it had wasted any potential at being meaningful and holding truth about relationships. Why? Because this is so busy being powerfully unfunny with a ton of forced humiliation jokes and gags. It's just disgusting. Krumholtz(who takes on the role of an emotionally retarded dude... no one is *that* blind; what happened to you? You were *spot-on* as Joel Glicker in Addams Family Values!) is no Woody Allen; neither is Brian(leave the craft to your brother, man, She's the One is far superior to this crap), though that doesn't prevent him from ripping of shtick some(that bit was hilarious in Annie Hall, don't try to top it, you merely make a fool of yourself). And let's steal(and worsen) the entire concept from When Harry Met Sally, while we're at it. He's not even a capable a director; as a romantic comedy(and trust me, I've seen my share, and liked several), this comes off as phoned in. The montage feels fake, and the title-drop(s) is incredibly awkward. Oh, and let's mercilessly mock people who believe in astrology. I don't believe in it; it's the quantity and tone of the material surrounding it in this that I protest. Nevertheless... I got this for one reason. While I maybe did not remember that this had a deservedly low rating here when I bought it on sale, I might have purchased it anyway. Why? Milla. I have a crush on her that does not seem to end. Her beauty, charm, cuteness and sweetness defy description. I spent money on this because it starred her, and I don't regret that, she gets to show some of her best features; if you can tolerate it, this is worth watching for us fans of her. The acting is pretty good, especially hers. I say the following without any bias of a single cast member(well, I only knew the main four): Her performance, and the part of Nadine were the only thing in this that made me care(near the conclusion, when she got to add a third dimension to it). There is plenty of strong language and brief sexuality in this. The DVD comes with 4 trailers. I recommend this solely to others who love seeing Jovovich in movies, and to fans of the genre who don't care what level of quality they're getting. You know, independent film-making is such a perfect way to express that which you won't be allowed to in mainstream pictures... why bother putting together something run-of-the-mill? 5/10

I loved it It's real nice how the 3 guys represent the typical kind of love men give, each extremely different but giving advise to one and other trying to understand the women's mind. Milla Jovovich is splendid and so good on screen she practically carried the entire movie by herself (as always), and with Denise Richards around is not a pain to watch. David Krumholtz who I barely knew from a short apparence on The Mexican impressed me a lot with his deeply heartbroken and friendly character. I'd say a must see for romance lovers. I gave it a 9/10

Milla stands out in this movie because of her personal sense of style and the way the clothes hang on her. I have learned to hate that crumpled little three-year-old face she makes whenever she pretends to cry. It makes any points she is trying to make as a serious actress drop off quickly. Of course, in a movie with a BALDWIN and Denise, she still shines as a mature actor person. David seemed to be doing Woody Allen by way of Howdy Doody. Not a single word or gesture in the entire movie seemed sincere or even sincerely acted. "How Harry Met Sally" and "Two Weddings and Funeral", even "Sleepless In Seattle" had scripts, locations and ACTORS. The script seemed to be a string of bad and crude gags separated by a LOT OF TALKING. The locations seemed to be within a few blocks of each other. There are only two actors in this dishrag of an indie flick, Milla and the lady who played the chick who was into the stars. I watched most of this through the first time with the sound off, just watching Milla. That subscript gag was old the first time I saw it and it's a silly rip off of a song in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying".

Well, as often with these boy/girl comedies the story line isn't very original: boy gets dumped by one girl, meets another one who becomes his best friend, keeps hoping to get together with his ex, but in the end discovers that this new girl he has met, has become more than just a friend to him and is the one he really wants. How predictable can it get. And yet this movie isn't completely boring, but at times even quite funny, and David Krumholtz and Milla Jovovich have the kind of chemistry that you need for this type of movie, and which makes it still quite entertaining. If you're in the mood for something that doesn't require thinking, and you don't mind the cliches then this one might be worth renting some time.

Only thing that baffled me though was how someone can remain stuck up on Denise Richards, while meeting Milla Jovovich who is about 10 times as beautiful. It would've taken me about 10 seconds to forget about Richards. Oh well. Must be me.