Um Cara Quase Perfeito

Stress and Success: I believe that "Man About Town" gets to the soul of work-life balance in a surprising way. A head review on IMDb compares it to American Beauty -- I think this makes it too heavy and the themes too weighty -- it is Jersey Girl with grown-ups - has farce, charm, and truly poignant scenes, as well as a man who as his life goes down the toilet makes his soul play and work for him.

Is it about the material waste vs. romance? : well, no not really; a modern parable of values; a little; an Italian drama with American values played out like a french comedy romance: definitely.

There is a strong cast: A pythonesque cameo breaks up the story into segments. Howard Hesseman as the father is a better role than expected: and he delivers a class performance. A face I hadn't noticed before, Damien Wayans, (well according to IMDb his previous credits include "cousin carrying plastic bag" in Don't be a Menace to South Central while Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, 'nuff said...) here he handles the foil of Ben Affleck's necessarily flack-like performance with real aplomb as the put-upon PA. He has behind the fluff a serious look that would lend well to comedy and/or drama. Bet we'll see more of him.

The treatment lends to being real handled with verve and vigor: covering the gamut from farce to bathos - and for my money hit a surprising number of home runs. Ben Affleck - a man driven to the point of desperation, and reconnection gives a deceptively light performance: I would have to say they are some awesome skills going into this - sometime he makes it look too easy, too, what's the word, smiley ?, but it is nicely played. It is his most mature role to date and he handles this tale of a man discovering his true values and maturity with a measured casualness.

On filming: I found the approach to filming itself more complex than I expected the lighting and sound are both clever and discrete; and it is well lit. Obviously style and architecture and the LA dream are nicely displayed: great design. The office really looks right, down to the door handles.

The editing makes good sense and keeps the pace in a natural story that jumps pace and genre : and there are some shots with lifts that are unique (!) and worth checking out for that reason alone.

It is funny particularly good on the visual jokes, but not overly crude, but It also moved me to tears four times - no mean feat - and my wife even more.

Mike Binder, who both wrote and directed this, is getting really close to having a real hit - I sense a director ready to take on a big star, and big themes and fly with them.

Overall, I enjoyed this tremendously and would say: more like it please. It is kind of familiar territory and many critics will point to it as too mixed up to be clear: but I would argue that the theme of redemption is clearer than the lax comic relief that occasionally surfaces -- and the silliness is light relief and flows out of the plot.

This film about a film executive who caught the success train early and now feels the baggage carriage rocketing up fast could itself be difficult to categorize as comedy romance drama etc; and that may be a weakness in marketing, but it is a strength in the telling: I found it a very rounded experience. Who wouldn't want to find films that touch the soul and here we have.

Worth the rental (And a release - This should be a release with real marketing values - right?) -- yup and how.

"Man About Town" is the biggest DTV movie of 2007. I can see why it deserved that fate.

The plot: Jack Giamoro (Affleck) is a smarmy talent agent who has a successful life and a beautiful wife (Romijn). He realizes that his wife is cheating on him with his top client (Adam Goldberg). This sets him off emotionally and he starts a journal and it contains all his dark secrets. Unfortunately, it gets stolen in a robbery and he needs it back desperately.

The first 40 minutes are excellent. Affleck and Romijn are great and they have some strong chemistry. Then it falls apart....fast. The journal class\robbery subplot just doesn't work. If they cut that out and focused on the infidelity it would have been a stronger movie. I think this went straight to video because of its wildly uneven tone. It's not really a comedy, it's more of a drama. The climax, while entertaining, is predictable and feels rushed. The supporting cast is good however, with John Cleese standing out as Jack's teacher.

Overall, "Man About Town" is worth seeing for the first 40 minutes. If you like Affleck, you might enjoy it. Take a look at the trailer! (Does contain spoilers!)

To start, Im a bit biased when it comes to Afflecks limited acting abilities. In Good Will Hunting he didn't come up to scratch, in Gigli he was a complete disaster, much like the entire Gigli movie, a train wreck.

Watching to see how much worse he could be I was impressed from the start, his voice and acting has improved but not by much. The movie is above average, hence my 6.

Affleck must have worked a fair bit to get his acting up to a decent level and it shows here. John Cleese had me amused from the start with a 3 minute lecture for his class (which was most likely scheduled for at least a 40 minute session), Romjin (Affleck's wife here) is his wife, making Ben's marriage and his almost workahlic lifestyle problematic.

Ben's character here is similar to other roles he has tried to play, where he thinks he's better than everyone around him (which is irritating), his manner is the same, his tone of voice doesn't change where required (if at all), nor does how he expresses his character which seems to be the same as other movies he's starred.

There is definitely an improvement in his acting for this film, I will be hoping for more in his next role.

Jack (Ben Affleck) is a hotshot and thriving writers agent in Hollywood. He built his company from the bottom up and has a fine crew of folks working for him, too. Not only this, he lives in a gorgeous house in Malibu and is married to a beautiful lady, Nina (Rebecca Romjim). Also in the house is Jack's father (Howard Hesseman) who has had a stroke and is subject to bizarre behaviors. Surprisingly, Jack is not happy and signs up for a nighttime writing class taught by a stuffy Brit (John Cleese). There, he is told to start a journal, which will not only improve his writing but will give clues to his psychological needs and wants. Reluctantly, Jack does this. But, there are pitfalls ahead. A former classmate, who knows Jack is very famous, has sent ten screenplays written by his girlfriend (Bai Ling) for Jack's evaluation and has never gotten a reply. Now, this man is out for revenge. He breaks into Jack's house and beats up the agent, while taking the diary. Since the perp's gal works for a minor newspaper, the rag is about to print Jacks every secrets. Also, there is trouble between Jack and Nina, deep trouble. How will Jack work his way out of this crisis? Despite the fine, fine cast, which also includes Gina Gershon, Mike Binder, Kal Penn, Adam Goldberg, and Jerry O'Connell, in addition to the ones listed above, this film is a big flop and a big mess. Oh, there are a few funny scenes, like Jack and his crew faking karate stances across from the employees of a Chinese restaurant who are doing the real moves! Also, Ling is pretty funny as the evil lady of blackmail. Yet, the movie is, in this viewers opinion, totally pointless. Especially surprising is the ending, where romance burnt to a crisp might still rekindle. Affleck is one of my favorite actors and this is his worst film, worse than Gigli. Thank God he went on to true glory with Argo, State of Play, and many other fine flicks. As for this one, avoid it by a wide mile.

I never thought much about Ben Affleck until I saw him in "Hollywoodland". He was remarkable in that film, so when I saw "Man About Town" on cable, I decided to watch it. I've never been more surprised in my life. It's a good movie - not mind-blowing, but fun to watch. However, there is a situation in the film involving Ben's teeth that qualifies as one of the funniest things I have ever seen on film...or maybe it's just me. Nevertheless, I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard at anything in a movie. Affleck was hilarious...and the writing was priceless. As I said, maybe it was just me...or perhaps it was the wine (nah!), but I say watch it for yourself and see what happens.