Dein Ex - Mein Albtraum

Writers David Guion and Michael Handelman and director Jesse Peretz must have called in a lot of favors when they made "The Ex," for how else to account for the presence of Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman, Charles Grodin, Mia Farrow, Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, Paul Rudd and Amy Adams in as slight an indie comedy as the one they have manufactured here? And "manufactured" is definitely the operative term in this case, for "The Ex" feels contrived and phony from the get-go.

After he gets fired from his job as a chef in an upscale Manhattan restaurant, Tom Reilly (Braff) moves with his wife and infant son back to her hometown in Ohio where he gets a job at the same ad agency where his father-in-law (Grodin) works. One of the employees, Chip (Bateman), an old flame of Tom's wife, Sofia (Peet), tries to sabotage Tom at every turn, undercutting him at work and trying to rekindle the romance between Sofia and himself.

"The Ex" fails on a variety of levels, but the primary one is that, while it is supposed to be a satire of small town, middle American values, most of the characters - with their New-Age quirkiness and bohemian eccentricities - seem as if they'd be more at home living in some converted loft in Soho than on a tree-lined street in suburban Ohio. The setting of "The Ex" doesn't feel like Anyplace, USA; in fact, it doesn't feel like anyplace, period, except maybe the fantasy world of two overpaid Hollywood screenwriters. Add to this an assortment of unappealing and unappetizing characters, a tendency towards sitcom-level humor and plotting, and an over-reliance on heavy-handed slapstick and sight gags, and you have one of the major comedy disappointments of 2007. Braff is definitely a talented actor, but "The Ex" is a career path misfire that should be mercifully forgotten

Zach Braff and Jason Bateman in one movie, hell yeah! How can it not be funny? Answer: by getting poor writers that have no idea of what makes these actors great. I guess "Fast Track" technically is a comedy, but it's just one without punchlines, funny one-liners or well, wit of any kind really. There's a lot of drama in there, there's a lot of romance, there's a lot of Amanda Peet talking about poo, but somewhere along the line they stopped bothering to put in actual laughs. There are indeed some attempts at humor in this movie, but it's the kind of situational drivel you already sigh at when it comes up in sitcoms, let alone in feature films. The actors save what there is to save, but they can't exactly make it laugh-out-loud funny with this material. A disappointment.

what to say, well the film was average, nothing brilliant but it did manage to hold your attention until the end.

Both leads were fine, again not brilliant but if anyone steals the show i would say that had to be Jason Bateman. He was your typical Villain type character but played his part well attempting to win the sympathy vote being wheelchair bound, not quite as Crude as "The Ringer" was in this area. Charles Grodin looked exceptionally old, the last time i saw him was with De Niro in Midnight Run but he has aged.

The film didn't have a real chance to loose your attention though at only 78 minutes. It has some silly funny moments but on the whole i would have to say go and watch it and make your own mind up after all you are reading my comment now but in your heart will what i say sway your decision on whether to watch this film.

A fairly amusing show where Braff's character deals with a co-worker in a new job that had had a thing with his wife in high school. This comedy doesn't bring anything new to the genre, but is a fair watch overall with some interesting elements.

The Good: Appropriate length, Fair acting, Great gag reel (after some credits start rolling), amusing overall, villain is mean, but doesn't cross the line- after all comedies are not about sadistic, truly evil villains. They are usually funny, selfishly misguided people, and Bateman fits the bill perfectly.

The Bad: Too much slapstick humor, had more potential, some scenes were unfocused and with no real purpose.

If I were to look at it, I would say The Ex aka Fast Track forms a loose trilogy of sorts with regards to growing up, and somewhat like a natural progression in the different stages of life that Zach Braff's characters form when stringed together. With Garden State, it's in the 20s where you're having a feel for the ground, exploring your options and not knowing exactly what life will dish out to you.With One Last Kiss, so you think that you're dead sure about your other half, you're getting married and vowing to spend the rest of your lives together, and suddenly an ingenue comes along, and cast doubts about that.

Plenty of what-will-you-do moments, with outcome that are different depending on your values, but totally possible, and brought out earnestly through Braff's performance as the everyday man. In The Ex, Zach Braff plays the blue collar salaryman whose hotshot lawyer wife had just given birth and as agreed, she'll be a stay home mum. But he just got fired from his job, thus sending their agreement into red alert zone. Taking up his father in law's offer, he uproots himself, wife and baby and starts work in a new age advertising company, only to meet up with his wife's ex.

You'd come to expect the usual jokes about not fitting into a totally different corporate culture with its own idiosyncrasies, conflict with the parents, and the constant threat posed by the wife's ex Chip Sanders played by Jason Bateman, which I bet almost every male would want to kill given his attitude and back stabbing nature. It's classic office politics at work as we root for the survival of Zach's Tom Reilly, though at times you'd expect him to have a little more backbone, and a little bit of smarts to survive the jungle out there.

If that sounds a little like Meet The Parents, it does. And it also is styled after Just Friends in the rivalry department, where two guys do battle over a girl, only that this time, it's the third party up against a married couple. Though I'd say it again, nothing beats riling you up when you see how the bastard at work gets away with almost everything, and get incensed with his obvious intentions to bang his ex, i.e. the wife.

The flow of the movie did seem a little broken at times, which I suspect that there were a lot more filmed than was put on screen, perhaps saving them for the DVD release. The ideas injected into the movie were numerous, but that made for the narrative feeling a little scattered. For instance, Amanda Peet as the wife Sofia Kowalski didn't really have much to do except nurse the baby, and be in some of the most trying comedic scenes such as the ones involving yoga.

Fans of Braff will not want to miss yet another familiar performance, and remember to stay tune during the credits for a coda, as well as various bloopers, some of which are genuinely funnier than the bits that made it to the movie.