Son ex et moi

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.

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

Just like most people who've written reviews for this film, I too was excited to hear about a film staring two great comedians like Braff and Bateman. How could you go wrong with these two? However, with two inexperienced writers and one inexperienced director; it's not hard to see where this film goes wrong.

The script is at times, very poor and extremely lacking in intelligent or deep humor, the characters are one dimensional and there are a lot of pointless and derivative scenes. There is no real chemistry between Braff and Peet and the soundtrack is somewhat lacking.

It's really awful to see such amazing talents go to waste in such a simple and shallow comedy such as this.

There are however, some great ideas in this film; the only shame is that they are not explored in their comedic entirety. Braff and Bateman are as usual, wonderful and do the best they can with the characters and the script they were given.

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.

Zach Braff ("Scrubs"), Amanda Peet ("Studio 60..") and Jason Bateman ("Arrested Development") help this little film just over the "average" bar. Even though their characters are pretty shallow, they put in a good performance and partly succeed in making you forget about the shabby script. There are a couple of funny moments, but without this cast the movie would have fallen apart, its strictly formulaic approach and lack of any inspiration just being too obvious. It's not as bad as "The Last Kiss", but Braff should choose his options more wisely, unless he wants his well-deserved Garden State acclaim to go down the drain.

Recommended only for fans of the above-mentioned stars, the rest of you is not missing out on anything.