Mr. Jealousy

Aside from a thoroughly misrepresentative title, "Mr. Jealousy" is actually quite entertaining. With good acting, a good story, and the brand of direction one only gets from the writer, the film is a genuinely charming romantic comedy. The humor is subtle and the dialogue poetic, but if you like that kind of thing (think "Royal Tenenbaums" meets "Kissing Jessica Stein," with most emphasis on the Stein) you should rent it. It's esoteric, but if you get it you'll like it.

The downfall of nearly all comedies is that Silliness is so often used as a substitute for humor. In this film, I never felt embarrassed for any of the characters, who were allowed to seem like genuinely real people in the context of a genuinely humorous development. It was also literate, which was nice given the thread of narrative running through the thing. I felt that simply reading the script would have been a nice rainy-day read, but at the same time, the lines were not literarily pompous or turgid.

Altogether, this was not a great film---but nicely, nothing happened in it to make it a bad one, either. If you're fed up with variations on same-old-same-old, sit back and just let this film flow over you.

"Mr. Jealousy" is a somewhat tedious heavily narrated Woody Allen-esque intellectual musing of relationship issues, specifically jealousy, with a NYC Gen-X milieu. A romantic-comedy tale of a tentative Stoltz's affair with a too experienced Sciorra, this emotionally sterile and somewhat heady flick is not likely to evoke more than an occasional chuckle nor milk a single tear nor give anyone the warm and fuzzies. Okay stuff for those into microscopic examinations of relationships though not likely to have broad appeal. (C+)

Stoltz is handsome, but his thrust is weak. He is in a maze searching for past lovers with whom his girlfriend has hooked up. He stalks. Even joins a therapy group with his girlfriend's ex boyfriend using another identity. Characters become laughable, because they are led not by legitimate feelings but complex plot moves. Romance must have a natural flow: Mr. Jealousy borders on slapstick. American romance doesn't take itself seriously. Why must there always be romantic comedy?

This film caught me by surprise on cable one night, and I went out and rented it again to show my friends. Eric Stoltz and Annabella Sciorra look gorgeous and have a wonderful chemistry together, and Chris Eigeman (from 'Metropolitan' and 'Barcelona') is the perfect Brett Easton Ellis-esque foil. It's rare to find a funny film about romantic jealousy, but this is it. Carlos Jacott just about steals the film with his impersonation of a British gentleman, and the rest of the cast is superb. The cinematography is sumptuous and the music is perfect. A great date movie..