If I Were You

This is one of the best comedies I have seen in years - I go to the movies a lot! The writing is smart, philosophical, quick witted. The plot comes up with surprise after surprise. You cannot predict the next move at all. The film is laugh-out-loud funny. The audience will put themselves in the shoes of these wonderfully rich characters and go through a fun emotional journey. Zany but plausible! The acting is stellar. I've always been a big fan of Marcia Gay Harden so I am thrilled to see her in a film of this caliber. The big question is "Why isn't this film in more theaters? I accidentally stumbled on this film. If not for that, I never would have seen it. Why? Marketing people ... distribution people ... GET THIS FILM TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC! We need to laugh ... not AT people which happens so often in films these days ... we need to laugh along with the genius of this film!

What you might expect from a movie about two women, one who is lovely, older, wiser, and not as firm, the other lovely, young and not very bright, except for when it comes to manipulation and adoration of the physical and the moment, would not be what you get in If I Were You . It's a movie that does not underestimate the buddy aspect of a romp, and it turns that inside out by using traditional methods, straight (wo)man, loose limbed physical comedy, and adds a dose of heartbreak not only in the realm of love, but in all relationships including friendship and parent child. It's an exceptional vehicle for Harden and one she readily deserves as she is overlooked and underused in so many ways.

I only recently discovered this little gem on Netflix and I was really impressed. This independent film is everything that so many Hollywood films aren't (anymore): complex, interesting, challenging, funny. The acting (especially Marcia Gay Harden and Aidan Quinn) is excellent. Despite its 2-hour run-time and complex plot, it never bogs down. Director Joan Carr-Wiggin does an admirable job of keeping the story moving and relatable through all the twists and turns of the plot and subplots. In fact, the story itself mirrors the Shakespearean structure with intrigue, mistaken or confused identities, poignant subtext, etc. And to top it all off, there's no formulaic development or "Hollywood ending" to ruin the great story! This film is truly delightful and its a shame that it did so unbelievably poorly at the box-office. The critics have not done it justice, either, giving one-line reviews that make me wonder if they even watched it. If you check on Rotten Tomatoes, you'll see that the audience score is around 70%, while the critic's score is at 9%! Definitely a disconnect with reality, in my opinion. It's not a perfect film, and if IMDb allowed it I would have given it an 8.5, but it's certainly MUCH better than its critical ratings and box-office earnings indicate.

If you grew up in the 70s and 80s, you'll recognise the Neil Simon pretense of this movie. Though it has neither the fast pace nor the wicked writing of a Simon production, it's well done and entirely worth an evening's light viewing.

The depiction of a main character in an agonising predicament, but whose basic decency wins out time and again over her broken heart, is rare in popular culture, and brilliantly performed by Marcia Gay Harden.

I have to open by saying I've always enjoyed Marcia Gay Harden. But I was a little worried that comedy might not be her strength. I was happily wrong. She delivers a joke well, very well at times and she carries the 2 hour movie right through to the end. She puts her own style into it too, which is memorable.

The movie is light entertainment but it's not irritating. It weaves it's own little path and pops out the other end with a smile on it's face. This is probably going to sound mean but the secondary characters were neither here nor there and only served as billboards for Marcia to graffiti. Though Aiden Quinn does carve out a few good moments for his character.

But It's Marcia's show and she steps up well. Well worth it if you're perhaps on the upper side of 40 and looking for something light, funny and mostly clean.