Die Super-Ex

My Super-Ex Girlfriend;; Matt Saunders(Luke Wilson) is uneasy when he meets Jenny Johnson(Uma Thurman), who comes off to him as a shy, needy librarian type. But Jenny has a secret.

Everybody in the town knows G-Girl, who constantly manages to single-handedly keep New York City from trouble. Little does anybody know, G-Girl is really Jenny Johnson.

When Matt introduces Jenny to his long-time work friend Hannah(Ana Faris), Jenny begins to act jealous and controlling, which leads to him dumping her. But that upsets her greatly, so she decides to get her revenge, using her powers to make his life a living hell.

My the final sequence, 'Girlfriend' gets out of control. But it's this refreshing, weird and funny premise that this summer needs. It's the perfect comedy to beat the summer heat.

For a film that is so silly, it's surprisingly well-executed. Everything gels, and director Ivan Reitman catches us off-guard with moments of absurd hilarity.

Performances are likable all around, with Uma Thurman portraying G-Girl with believable ease. Luke Wilson is well-cast as the guy in over his head. Writing is solid, and direction keeps things breezy.

'My Super Ex Girlfriend' is a thoroughly engaging, screwball comedy that's driven by a silly premise that works.

A guy desperate for action attempts to hit on a gorgeous girl in a bus. She refuses him, but when he runs after someone who tries to steal her purse they get together anyway. And there it starts - a relation that is slightly tainted by the fact that she is a jealous and neurotic superhero. It can't be a secret that things between them are going to be problematic.

In short, a story that could promise to grow out into a cool film. And IMO, it succeeds at being a nice film. It's no masterpiece, but it had me in tears from laughing on more than one occasion - the two lead characters twirl around each other in a crazy love fest that is, even with the superhero thing going, believable.

So. Thin story, but worked out really funny and thus worthy of cinema time.

7 out of 10 broken hearts

A big surprise, probably because I was expecting it to suck. The reviews were pretty dismissive of it, even though they all seemed to agree that the concept was golden: a man finds out his new girlfriend is a super hero, and finds, when he wants to break up with her, that she's kind of a psycho. I kept expecting it to fall apart, but it never really did. Sure, it doesn't make as much of its awesome premise as it could, and chooses to be short when it might have been better to expand the film's universe. But I can't blame it for that. Uma Thurman is great as the bipolar superhero, G-Girl. And I've discovered, after several years of disliking him, that Luke Wilson can be absolutely perfect when cast as a schlub. He's given two of the best comic performances of 2006 (the other in the pretty much unreleased Idiocracy). I absolutely cracked up at the expressions on his face when he and Thurman first have sex. It's one of the funniest sex scenes ever. My only real complaint is that they make G-Girl a bit too much of a psycho, like almost unbelievably so. Maybe with some background I could have accepted it better. I can forgive its flaws, though, because I had a really good time watching it. Underrated, for sure.

My Super Ex Girlfriend turned out to be a pleasant surprise for me, I was really expecting a horrible movie that would probably be stupid and predictable, and you know what? It was! But this movie did have so many wonderful laughs and a fun plot that anyone could get a kick out of. I know that this was a very cheesy movie, but Uma and Anna were just so cool and Steve was such a great addition along with a great cast that looked like they had so much fun and that's what made the movie really work.

Jenny Johnson(scary, that's my best friend's actual name) is not your typical average librarian looking woman, when Matt, your average male, asks her out, he's in for more than he expected, he's asked G-Girl out on a date, the super hero of the world! But when he finds out what a jealous and crazy girl she really is and decides that it may be a good idea that they spend some time apart, but Jenny won't have it since he's fallen for another girl, Hannah, and she will make his life a living hell, I mean, let's face it, he couldn't have chosen a better girl to break up with.

The effect were corny, but you seriously move past them quickly, the story and cast made the story really work and I loved Uma in this movie, it was such a step up from Prime. My Super Ex Girlfriend is a fun movie that you shouldn't really take seriously, it's just a cute romantic comedy that I think if I could get a laugh out of it, anyone could.

7/10

On paper this looked like a great concept: Average guy on the rebound dates up tight bookish museum curator, who is really a hot Superhero who saves the world on a regular basis. However, director Ivan Reitman and writer Don Payne (of the "Simpson's") almost fatally miscalculate in having their hero G-Girl (played by striking Uma Thurman) come off as a total nut job as both Superhero and secret identity persona Jenny Johnson. The movie even cops to this in a conversation between Jenny and Matt Saunders (Luke Wilson) following his rescue by G-Girl from the Statue of Liberty. Jenny curiously asks Matt what was G-Girl like. Matt replies, "She's kind of nutty…" I think the intent was to have Jenny (Thurman) be this lonely young woman, who has no one in her life, isolated by her great physical powers. Thurman does the best she can, but her Jenny is a terrifying mood swing in dire need of Prozac. Luke Wilson is way too breezy in the role reversal of boyfriend and superhero girl friend.

"My Super Ex-Girlfriend" is also a victim of bad timing, coming on the tail end of "Superman Returns" which plays Superhero straight up, so to speak. With all its quirks and inconsistent writing I still thought "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" was funny and enjoyed the movie. Given that this is an Ivan Reitman movie, this could have been a lot better. Reitman starts with a great premise, and really squanders it. First off, we all love the hero. Here neither Jenny nor G-Girl is really all that likable. This is surprising for Uma Thurman, who is normally a charismatic and powerful presence. In the beginning her Jenny/ G-Girl is just plain weird. Shocking. Because if there is a woman who can play a Superhero, she is Thurman—she looks great. Only toward the end does her Jenny become more sympathetic, instead of caricature. Although "My Super Ex" is not a straight Superhero story, rather a romantic comedy of sorts, it does not provide what every Superhero mythology requires—a great super villain. Here we have Professor Bedlam aka Barry (Eddie Izzard) who really is evil lite. He is no Lex Luthor. No plans for Global domination. Bedlam rather Barry does hold a grudge against G-Girl, and expectedly it has to do with their shared past. What is bizarre you don't know who you would rather spend time with—Bedlam or G-Girl? Luke Wilson's Matt is just "some dude" who happens to hook up with the psycho superhero. One of the annoying things he does is that he confides in his repugnant loser friend Vaughn (Rainn Wilson doing a bad whacked out impersonation). Wilson sometimes plays it a little too dense, and this dilutes his likable charm. This does however work, in the comic sex scene with Jenny. Matt while dating Jenny/ G-Girl realizes that he is in love with his co-worker Hannah (perky Anna Faris). So how does Matt break up with G-Girl? Well, it's not pretty and for the most part hilarious.

Dramatic Superhero movies work. Romantic comedies with chemistry work. What may be inherently difficult are Superhero satires disguised as romantic comedies. Everyone loves the hero. However, hero nut job? Maybe not. With all Uma Thurman's talent she is unable to accomplish this convincingly. And she does not get sufficient support from Reitman and Payne. Thurman and Wilson have enough charm and presence to survive their narrative failings. "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" is fun and funny. Though given all involved, the movie could have been super.