Dir. Ivan Reitman
Writ. Don Payne
Act. Uma Thurman, Luke Wilson, Anna Farris

There was a time that the name Ivan Reitman meant great comedy. This is the man that brought us Animal House, Ghostbusters, Meatballs, Twins. But, as I look down his resume, I see that his last real hit he directed, was Dave, 14 years ago. He has had a few hits he has produced since then, Old School and Road Trip, but his directorial stuff has been filled with mediocrity. His newest movie, My Super Ex, is another high-concept comedy that ends up being very average.

When Matt Saunders, played by Luke Wilson (Old School) meets Jenny Johnson, Uma Thurman (Kill Bill movies), he thinks he's found the perfect girl. However, he decides to break things off with her when she becomes too needy, controlling, and jealous and discovers that he loves his co-worker Hannah, played by Anna Farris (Scary Movie movies.) Unfortunately for Matt, Jenny is also a superhero named G-Girl, and when she can no longer cope with Matt's relationship he decides to use her powers to make his life hell. This forces Matt to go to G-Girl's arch nemesis Professor Bedlam, Eddie Izzard (Ocean's 12,) who has a way to 'cure' G-Girl of her powers.

I love this story idea. I mean how many times have people thought what would happen if Superman found Lois Lane in another man's bed. Would he be a good guy or would he freak out and throw Lois and the other man into space? I thought that writer Don Payne did a fine job with bringing this story to the screen. It could have been easy to make this story really campy and stupid, but I thought it was as real as a movie like this could be given the story line. However, I will say that the ending is way too easy, even for this kind of movie, and it brought the movie down a little bit.

My problem with the movie is that while it is funny, there is no times where I was slapping my knee or knocking my glasses off my face because it was so funny. I don't know who to blame for it, Payne for writing the story, Ivan Reitman the director, or the cast of the show. Let me tell you why these are the three options and what I think.

The first option is Payne. Although the story is cute, there is no dialogue that laughter, no witty banter if you will. Which is really too bad because he had a great comedian in Eddie Izzard playing the bad guy and he was not used properly. He could have added some hilarity to the movie. I know the guy can write like that because he has written a dozen episodes of The Simpson's TV show, and he was a producer on the hilarious Simpson's episode, Behind the Laughter. So while he has to take part of the blame for this movie, he can't take all of it.

The second option is the cast. I feel that everyone was ok at the very least. Anna Farris actually was wonderful and adorable and if she isn't careful, she will end up on my favorite actress list. It was nice to see her in a straight comedy role unlike the Scary Movie movies or Just Friends, where she was a great character. She has all the talent to become a great comedic actress. The problem really lies with the other two, my beloved Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson. Wilson was fine as the straight guy, borderline nerd with the hot girlfriend character. Sometimes I can see why it was easy to cast him because he did the wimpy yet stable balance to Thurman's G-Girl insanity. But I think Wilson is better if he is with someone else providing the humor, be it the side kick or the love interest. So he was ok with Farris and his side kick Vaughn, played by Rainn Wilson (TV's The Office,) but it was when he was on stage with Uma was when it hurt the most, which brings me to my beloved Uma. I loved her in Kill Bill and, well hell, just in general, I love her. But I don't know if she has the comedian in her to play a lead in a comedy. She wasn't horrible but, she never had the feel for the humor. She wasn't bad, but it could have been better. So I give a minor assist to the cast in making this movie a little less funny than it should have been.

This leaves me with the last alternative for the adequacy of this movie, the director, Ivan Reitman. What has happened to this comic genius? This is the guy that produced or directed some of the best comedies ever. Don't believe? Well, let's see, he produced Animal House, Heavy Metal, Beethoven, Private Parts, and has directed, Meatballs, Stripes, Ghostbusters I, II, Twins, Kindergarten Cop, and Dave. He has also recently produced Road Trip and Old School. However, the problem is that the above movies of greatness that I mentioned he directed were anywhere from 15 to 25 years ago. His most recent directed movies include, Junior (a pregnant Arnold Schwarzenegger?,) Six Days and Seven Nights (who in their right mind believes ultra man Harrison Ford would be stuck on a island with the love bitch of Ellen DeGeneres, i.e. Anne Heche and not kill her after the first 30 seconds of her whining,) and possibly the greatest misuse of comedic talent, Fathers Day with Billy Crystal and Robin Williams, the unfunniest movie they have ever been in. Reitman apparently has lost some of his directing magic, and surely some of his casting eye. I think that Ryan Reynolds and Drew Barrymore would have been better than Luke and Uma. But the actors still have to act and the writer has to direct, so it's not completely his fault, but he gets a lot of it.

It's hard to believe that I like this movie after all of this criticism. But I do. It will make my DVD collection one day when it is cheap enough, but my best recommendation to the viewer is to wait until it's on DVD. It's a cute movie that will help keep you warm in the upcoming winter months.

Brian - the Naked Gun