The Dilemma

The idea here is whether or not to tell your best friend his spouse is cheating on him. Obviously we all know the answer is a resounding Hell Fucking No Are You Crazy?!? Especially if you are getting ready to make a Big Business Deal and you’re tied to the waist of this already tweaked-out stress-overloaded person to help you make the sale. So you don’t tell, you close the deal, and eventually they find out, or hey, who knows, maybe they don’t give a shit in the first place, but anyway, it’s none of your business what goes on between two people in this regard, right? OK, we didn’t go to that movie, we went to this way more entertaining one with Vince Vaughn and Kevin James (which, no offense to Mr. James, but of course that should have been Jon Favreau in his part, but you know, Iron Man and stuff), who are working a Big Deal in the automotive industry, and then Winona Ryder cheats on James, because who wouldn’t, right? Again, no offense, but James is kinda disgusting here, especially compared to Vaughn, who is a Smooth Operator and sure, he might be carrying a few extra pounds, but he’s tall, and compared to King of Queens over there, he looks like Christian Bale in The Machinist, seriously. Jennifer Connelly is so beautiful we would probably go to a movie of 90 minutes of just her face, even though she has kind of beady little doll eyes, but she plays Vaughn’s wife and wears nice outfits and is definitely the Class of this picture, plus she’s not just window-dressing, she gets a chance to throw down with some for-reals Acting, but Ms. Ryder is no slouch, she is definitely Back, in case you hadn’t noticed she was sort of not really present (Mr. Deeds, etc.) in many of her previous engagements on the silver screen, as it were, and she’s workin’ here as someone who does not need to be judged right now, it’s complicated, and so forth.

So look, if you appreciated The Break-Up, the flick Mr. Vaughn did with Jennifer (bleh) Aniston, you will be pleased to enjoy this one, because despite the Hollywood accommodations such as certain annoying pieces of music you hear in a million television commercials, and tacking on Queen Latifah as a vulgar Detroit motorhead to give the flick a wider audience appeal, and despite the unnecessary calculated “political incorrectness” of Mr. Vaughn’s “Don’t Tread On Me” T-shirt-wearing character, this movie takes you to some challenging places as far as what goes on between people and couples. Channing Tatum is pitch-perfect as the meathead Wino is banging, and Vaughn had us seriously wondering just how much hospitalization he needed after the surprising physical demands of his role. Meanwhile, we’re pretty sure James wears a wig or maybe got some new crops sewn up there, but we will never be able to figure out Vaughn’s hairline.

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