Product Details

• Actors: Timothy Busfield, Robert Fields, Michael Kagan, Josh Keaton, Steven Kravitz
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Mti Home Video
• VHS Release Date: April 6, 2004
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305974969
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #539,835 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Here's something we don't see enough of: a grown-up film about dating, commitment, and the niggling little fears that chip away at our best efforts. Christopher Meloni (TV's Law and Order: SVU) stars as Barry, a thirtysomething standup comic with a bitter, sexist act that inflames as many people as it amuses. When a leather clad biker gives his critique with fists, Thea (Janel Moloney of TV's The West Wing), a stable, sensible college student 10 years his junior, picks him up literally and figuratively. They're hardly a perfect match: age differences, lifestyle clashes, and sheer philosophical outlook seem to doom them from the outset. But hope lies in the words of a palm reader who declares them "souler opposites," in other words, made for each other. Meloni is excellent as an overgrown adolescent who struggles against his better nature and devolves into a glib teenager whenever he hangs out with his equally arrested high school buddy (Timothy Busfield), who fuels his act with more sexist, testosterone-powered rants on sex and women. Moloney gives dignity to her Thea's activism and never plays her new-age mellowness for laughs. She's playful, witty, smart, and just a bit impulsive. Director Bill Kalmenson manages to bring new life to the clichés such romantic comedies are built from by taking a look with a fresh eye. It's a sweetly modest, undeservingly overlooked film that still holds out hope for grown-up love. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars this movie was pitifuly overlooked..., August 19, 2001

By 

"evetavitha" (Apex, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Souler Opposite (DVD)

I bought this DVD after reading excellent reviews over at imdb.com, and because it was the only way to see it (because it's only available in this format). THis was a wonderfully refreshing look at the realistic side of love and commitment. Janel Moloney gives a wonderful performance that is erily similar to the role she plays on The West Wing, despite the fact that this was made before she got the job on West Wing. Her performance on WW is what prompted me to get this, and it was well worth it. Christopher Meloni and Timothy Busfield (also from TWW) are wonderful as the love interest and his best friend, both of whom have their share of trouble with women. SO, see this movie, but be warned that it is rated R (as far as I could tell) because it goes a little farther with some aspects of relationships than other movies might. It's an independant film so it could get away with more. The DVD contains a full directors Commentary which is very entertaining. To recap: this is a great movie! If you like offbeat romances with a great deal of humor then this is your kind of movie.

5.0 out of 5 stars A DIFFERENT SIDE OF MELONI, March 12, 2010

By 

G. Ibarra (Wichita, KS) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Souler Opposite (DVD)

I'm really a Meloni fan and loved seeing another side of the SVU star. He's 35, his career is in the dumpster and he puts on this facade of the perennial joker to hide his pain and insecurity. Hard to see him in this light when you see the testosterone overloaded detective on SVU - but there he is - vulnerable, hopeful and confused. It's so real it hurts to watch. Watch it anyway - and be prepared to be a little uncomfortable especially as he tries to get his foot in the door of the comedy clubs. Busfield and Moloney are great too, but it's all Christopher. He can say more with his body language and facial expressions than most actors around today. Highly recommended if you like real honest emotions.

2.0 out of 5 stars Great Actor - Bad Script, June 26, 2005

By 

Lawrence R. Holben (Mt. Shata, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Souler Opposite (DVD)

Being a diehard Christopher Meloni fan, I enjoyed seeing something from his younger days as an actor (pre Oz and Law and Order:SVU). Meloni has a remarkably deft touch with comedy and it was interesting to see which of his signature touches he's retained in his later work and which (in particular an almost elfin boyish smile) he's dropped. As for the film itself, the first half is not bad, although it's difficult to understand exactly what Meloni's character sees in his leading lady other than her extravagant delight in offering him a particular sexual service that was at one time illegal in many states. But half way through, the whole thing just falls apart: scenes that appear to have nothing at all to do with the plot line (which pretty much disappears) or with each other are plunked down with no apparent narrative logic, characters make undeveloped and confusing personality changes, and -- a sure sign a film is in trouble -- there is an extended "travelogue" montage, in this case of a dismally rainy Washington, D.C., that does nothing to advance the story. As a result, the final resolution, while expected, rings decidedly untrue. If you're a Meloni fan, get this one at the video store or on NetFlix, don't buy it. As for Mr. Meloni, he proves he can be good in anyting, but he deserves (and has since gotten)far better material.