Customer Reviews

The Ex (Full Screen Edition)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I love Zach Braff. Tis the reason my anticipation to see this film was so high. Garden State and The Last Kiss were both amazing movies but I wanted to see him play a character like JD from Scrubs. You know, the kinda wacky, really funny, guy. Enter The Ex.

In no way is this the greatest or funniest movie you'll ever see, let's get that straight right now. And honestly, your enjoyment of this movie will probably be based solely on whether you like Zach Braff or Jason Bateman since they're the primary characters. Everything about this movie is predictable, there's no surprises and I think that that's one of the best things about The Ex. It doesn't try to be something it isn't. However, there isn't that tired 'boy gets girl/boy loses girl/boy gets girl back' scenario which is a good thing.

Tom (Braff) and wife, Sofia (Peet), move to Ohio after their son is born to try and start anew, thanks to a job offer from Sofia's dad. That's when Tom meets Chip (Bateman), a handicapped guy who is gonna be acting as his mentor at the new job. You can guess what happens next and probably be right.

The thing that keeps The Ex funny throughout is far and away Tom and Chip's fued. I'm sure that's why everyone who heard about this movie wanted to see it, and it's just as funny as I thought it'd be. Now you may think differently. Past that, there are some memorable scenes, but only fans of the actors in it are gonna remember this film. Worth the money though.

IF YOU SAW THE EX IN THE THEATRE AND LOVED IT, THIS IS THE VERSION YOU WANT! THIS IS THE VERSION THAT WAS SHOWN IN THE THEATRE. The unrated version has a lot of material cut out, including a lot of character development and stuff that made the movie funny in the first place. This PG-13 version is 5 minutes longer than the unrated. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that this rated version is available in widescreen at this time.

As much as I love Zach Braff and Amanda Peet, I really thought this movie was a bust. I would have given it 1 star except for the two of them. This is a very dark "comedy," and most of the movie is rather depressing as Braff goes from one predicament to another. You feel sorry for him rather than wanting to laugh. Jason Bateman's character is really too diabolical for a comedy, and the constant pratfalls are just not funny. The movie seems to miss its beat somehow. The concept is sort of cute, a guy whose boss just happens to be his wife's ex, but the movie is more like a foray into an evil and disturbed alternate universe than the side-splitting hilarity I was expecting. I would not recommend this movie.

I really liked this movie when I saw it in theaters.. it made me laugh and not very many movies can do that. So when I bought it I was all excited about watching it again. The DVD version is nothing like the movie I saw at the theater. They cut all the good parts out!!! I want them to release a theaterical release version so I can have the movie that I thought I bought originally.

It's never a good sign when filmmakers can't figure out what to call their films. This one was originally marketed under the name of "Fast Track" (the defunct title also shows up in the end credits -- whoops!), indicating that it's about the hijinks to be found in the corporate zeitgeist. Then the name was changed, ostensibly to draw focus to the alpha male struggle that makes up much of the plot.

Such card-swapping doesn't make much difference. This movie, by any other name, would smell just as stanky. Zach Braff, donning a personality as interesting as acetate, plays Tom Reilly, a recently fired chef who gets a job at his father-in-law's advertising agency. Also employed there? His wife's sorta-kinda-ex-boyfriend, Chip, who also happens to be a passive-aggressive wheelchair-bound jerk.

So, let's see ... the advertising milieu means lots of commercial gags, we have an upwardly-mobile careerwoman stuck playing homemaker in suburban Ohio ("Look at all the white people," Tom says when they first drive into town), Tom is working for his father-in-law (a wealth of material there, even if it is dusty), and look at that cast! Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman, Charles Grodin, Mia Farrow, Donal Logue, Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco. I love all those folks! On paper, this looks like it has the potential to be a great movie.

Maybe they should've written some more stuff on that paper, though. Like a coherent plot, or funny jokes, or creative character struggles, for example. Instead, we have pratfall after pratfall, lots of "cripple jokes," and a kid who can swallow an entire hamburger without chewing once.

Braff and Peet play it straight to an entire cadre of wack-jobs (Sofia attends New Age Baby Classes where moms ask their infants for permission to pick them up; Tom's co-workers toss around a pretend "teamwork" ball and aren't allowed to say "I'm sorry" unless in writing), but none of these weirdos is given much room to stretch. Of all the talent in the film, only Grodin's father-in-law Bob comes the closest to making an impression.

It's not his fault. The script needs multiple doctors. Chip sabotages Tom every chance he can get, but instead of calmly explaining his predicament to his family and friends, Tom pulls the classic screwball comedy move of fighting fire with fire, making himself look jealous, insenstive to Chip's handicap, and pretty much crazy. I'd even accept this turn of events if Tom's responses were a little zanier than, for example, stealing Chip's yogurt or (very very) poorly concealing a camera beneath a tented magazine.

These are really bad ideas, both for revenge and for a movie. The makers of this dud should've done more than just tinker with the title; they should've retooled the whole thing, preferably with the help of the comedically proven cast.

THIS IS THE "UNRATED" CUT OF THE MOVIE WHICH HAS MOST OF THE FUNNY PARTS CUT OUT. YOU WANT TO BUY THE ONE THAT IS THE "FULL SCREEN EDITION" WHICH IS THE ONE IN THE THEATER.

The unrated version has MOST of the funny parts cut out and the ending isn't the same or as good. i wish i read the reviews for this version before i bought it but i didnt. so hopefully i have saved yall from buying the less funny version of the movie like i did.

BUT the full screen edition IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!! DEFINITELY BUY THE FULL SCREEN EDITION!!!

I'm suprised that it would have bad reviews. But I guess that explains why I was one of the only people in the Theater laughing. I appreciate the history lesson and background offered by the other reviews, but taking it at face value, this movie offers some of the finest comic elements that you would associate with this particular group of filmmakers. I don't think that it was unfunny, badly written or poorly performed. So I don't get the bad reviews...sorry.

I join the minority of reviewers who thought this was very funny. I laughed a lot watching it, and thought it was great. It was on TV, so I recorded it - I'll see it again some time. I agree with the reviewer who liked it.

I was excited to buy the DVD, because the version I seen in the theater was funny. The DVD cuts all the funny parts, I don't know if it is because it is an unrated evrsion, but I am not going to waste my money to buy the rated version to see if that is the one I seen in the theaters. Do yourself a favor and don't bother getting this, hopefully a theater version will be released.

When a film stars a slew of respectable actors and or comedians and or celebrities you kind of hope and pray that the film is going to be good; right? You hear the name Jason Bateman and you think of that subtle humor that coats his serious tone and you get kind of excited about what he'll do with his role. You hear the name Amanda Peet and you recall her scene stealing work in `The Whole Nine Yards' and dream of her capitalizing on that shining moment of brilliance. You hear the name Mia Farrow and you think `OMG, ACTRESS' because she is, like, the definition of one. You hear the name Zach Braff and you think of `Scrubs' and the fact that he carries that show on his shoulders with his spin on the whole `man-child' theatrics. You hear the name Amy Poehler and you think of her hilarious SNL skits, or Amy Adams and her dynamic knack for creating layered comedic characters. In less rambling terms; you see all those names on the front of this DVD and you expect a sleeper hit.

If you expected that then you would be DEAD wrong.

The film is barely funny (I thought MAYBE one or two scenes were funny) and in the end it is insultingly predictable and somewhat (ok, a lot what) preposterous. It was like the filmmakers (screenwriter, whatever) got stumped by his own formula and decided to just throw every possible logistics he attempted to create out the window. I mean, the whole character that is Chip is a complete waste of time and energy, and that character was handed to Jason Bateman!!!

WHY?!?!?!?!

Yuck; this movie is so incredibly stupid I want to beat my face against a wall for wasting the time reviewing it (not really, but almost).

Anyways, I don't even know if it's worth the time, but I'm bored so get a whiff of the plot. You have Tom and Sophia who are married and in love and have a baby. Tom can't hold a job, and Sophia (who has a successful legal career) has decided to put her career on hold to raise their new baby. Tom, recently jobless, accepts an offer to work at an add agency with Sophia's father. The agency is weird and eccentric (unbelievably so) and so obviously Tom is out of place. Then Tom meets Chip, a wheelchair bound middle aged jerk who once slept with Sophia and (creepily) makes his affections known for her every way he can. Surprisingly (or should I say, clichéd-like) no one by Tom even notices all the blatantly obvious ways with which Chip proves himself a total creep.

Of course, the whole world loves Chip, Tom comes inches from losing his wife, and then instantaneously the world realizes Chip is not what he says he is, he gives up his charade without even a fight and Tom is the world's biggest hero.

This movie is retarded.