With an assist from his father-in-law, Tom takes a job at a New
Age advertising agency (yes, it’s as creepy as it sounds) so he can earn a decent living while his wife, Sofia, stays home with their newborn baby. He loathes his job and she hates being a housewife, but neither of them complains, convinced the other spouse is having a great time. Things turn nasty when one of Tom’s coworkers, Chip, turns out to be an ex-boyfriend from Sofia’s checkered past. Hoping to get the old spark going again, Chip pitches none-too-subtle woo in Sofia’s direction, and it’s hard for Tom to strike back, since Chip is bound to a wheelchair and plays the disability card for all it’s worth.Much of the picture’s humor comes from Chip’s eagerness to milk every possible advantage from his disadvantages—as a subplot it’s Farrelly brothers lite, just irreverent enough to make this comedy stand out from the silly-season crowd. Graff is laid-back as can be, Peet is always fun to watch, Bateman plays Chip with just the right amount of totally gratuitous malevolence, and Grodin is pitch-perfect as Sofia’s long-suffering dad. Add a snappy surprise ending and you have a perfectly appealing package—less acerbic than Thank You for Smoking and a tad sunnier than Year of the Dog, but definitely in their league.
– David Sterritt
Director: Jesse Peretz. Screenplay: David Guion, Michael Hendelman. Cinematography: Tom Richmond. Film editing: Tricia Cooke, Jeff McEvoy, John Michel. Production design: John Paino. Music: Ed Shearmur. Producers: Anthony Bregman, Marc Butan, Anne Carey, Ted Hope. With: Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman, Charles Grodin, Mia Farrow, Lucian Maisel, Donal Logue, Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, Bob Stephenson, Yafit Halleley, Josh Charles, Marin Hinkle, Yul Vazquez, Michael Lawson. USA. 88 min. 2007.
