The Dilemma

Director Ron Howard has been away from his comedy roots for a while but now gladly returns.

The premise of this film is an interesting one. The more interesting thing is how they are going to be able to sustain it for a whole movie. Basically Ronnie has to tell his friend Nick that his wife is cheating on him. But thankfully writer Allen Loeb has come up with some good obstacles to keep Ronnie from telling Nick the news. While the comedy is not of the 'laugh out loud' variety I still found it very funny. I think the problem is the tone of the comedy. The premise is more suited to something farcical and a bit sillier. Where Ronnie gets caught in outrageous situations. However Ron and his team have played it in a more straight comedy way, which while funny, does not take full advantage of the situation.

Vince Vaughn is not a terribly subtle actor and your enjoyment of his films largely depends on how much you like him. Plus he plays the same sort of character in all his films. For me it depends on his characters motives. In this film he is playing a more sympathetic and nicer character who is just trying to do the right thing but keeps getting into more trouble. So while his shtick does get a bit irritating I quite liked his performance. Kevin James is another actor who is very hit and miss. I find him more 'hit' when he is not working with Adam Sandler. He is quite good here but sadly leaves more of the funnier stuff to Vince. Winona Ryder is having a nice resurgence in her career lately. She is quite good as the bitch in this role. Sadly Jennifer Connelly gets the rough end of the stick and has very little to do, except react to Vince's stunts.

Not the greatest of comedies as you may come to expect from Ron Howard. But you will get a few good laughs out of it.