Le dilemme

OK..OK..it wasn't 'awful', but it wasn't OH MY GAWD this is great either. The Dilemma is presented as a conflict that Vince Vaughn has when he sees his best friend and business partner's wife having an affair. Coulda , shoulda, woulda been a different movie had the following happened: 1. Winonna Ryder...isn't in the movie 2. Kevin James ..had more comedy rather than 'engineering' skills 3. Winonna and Kevin were 2 different actors that were the married couple in this flick AND, 4. they stuck to the storyline and stopped adding countless subplots that have no impact on the movie or the comedy or the acting.

This movie had a lot of potential, it just didn't produce it.

Vince and Jennifer were acceptable as an unwed committed couple but there wasn't enough balance between comedy and drama. I went into this expecting comedy and got more drama. It just wasn't Vince's best work, nor was it Ron's.

Even the 'other man' (who's name escapes me) was just too far fetched to wrap my mind around in character. He was over he top. If he was like the guy from the Richard Gere, Dianne Lane movie, then it'd be more believable.

I'm just not sure what I watched tonight. Vince had his typically banter and rhetoric in some scenes, but the movie was just too heavy and too over the top with story lines for me to count...or to recommend.

I also didn't like Queen L in this...she overacted her scenes and her character just didn't seem to fit in enough to make it worth her paycheck. This is the same actress that got the Oscar nod for Chicago...completely overacting in this movie.

I'd definitely wait for the DVD..as a rental. You will only want to see it once..

I don't know if anything happened after the 40 minute mark, but that's when I gave up. It was all taking far too long for me.

Ronny Valentine (Vince Vaughn) is Nick Brannen's (Kevin James) best friend from college and partner in their own auto design firm. Ronny has girlfriend Beth (Jennifer Connelly), and Nick is happily married to Geneva (Winona Ryder). Then Ronny spies Geneva making out with another man.

This is probably the worst Ron Howard movie I've ever seen. I don't know what the original intention was. Is cheating in a marriage really slapstick comedy material? Vince Vaughn and Kevin James could be a funny team in another movie. I just can't tell as I worry about what's going on in that marriage. If you're making fun of this material, you'd have to go dark. Neither guy is that great at dark comedies and Ron Howard is the last person to direct that.

Really good actors and a premise that could have worked, but it failed in its execution. It was a bit like someone had assembled a lot of fresh, delicious ingredients in the kitchen, but didn't really know what flavors go with what, how much of each should be included, or what method to cook it and how long.

Too bad, because the actors gave it their all, and I felt like I could see where Ron Howard was TRYING to go with it... but unfortunately, it didn't quite make it there.

It wasn't terrible, but I can't say I laughed or ever really felt very invested in the characters. I commend the actors though -- a lot of times when the movie isn't going well, you can tell the actors have just decided to phone it in. I never felt like that with this cast, so kudos to them for that. Otherwise, it was basically forgettable.

I like titles where one word can refer to multiple things occurring in the movie. "The Dilemma" can mean, will Ronny (Vince Vaughn) propose to girlfriend Beth (Jennifer Connelly)? or when Ronny catches Geneva (Winona Ryder) cheating on best friend Nick (Kevin James), should he tell him? Will Ronny and Nick be able to land and keep the lucrative Chrysler deal to save their company? Unfortunately, none of these story lines are particularly interesting or very funny.

Vince Vaughn is his usual self, and Kevin James can be both funny and the nerdy engineer. But the problems occur at the very beginning, first when we realize that one of the best actresses in the cast, Ms. Connelly, is only there to smile and look pretty, and then we start concentrating on Winona Ryder who appears as though she's acting in "Girl, Interrupted" instead; her character is just way too deranged looking to be enjoyable. For what should be a simple buddy comedy, they added way too many sub-plots and although there were a few laughs, it was mostly boring and not all that funny.

By the end, the film settled down a bit more, and we got to concentrate on Ronny and Nick. Vaughn and James are the only two actors in the film who actually belong in such a film, and I enjoyed their camaraderie. They were good characters, funny guys, and decent people. "The Dilemma" isn't horribly written, had a few jokes, and I was smiling at the end, but it tested my patience just a bit too much.