Customer Reviews

Trust The Man

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Wity writing, and characters that are allowed to have some flaws made this one of the first chick flicks that did not make me want to vomit. Heck I actually enjoined it.... for the most part. It does end with the usual formualic, come to jesus ending. But over all still enjoyable.

The creative funny backenforth give plenty of entertainment while the storyline sets it self up.

The characters are not the usual black and white images of perfection or sleazy bastreds which makes them much more relateable. As well as making the story seem less absurd.

While probably unintentional the movie also provides interesting examples of the differences between the way men and women communicate. The men always tiring to fix the things the women complain about instead of just listening, and the women getting upset when the men do not just intuitively know what they want even though they never say.

All in all the first chick flick/ feel good movie that not only did not make me want to vomit, but that I actually enjoined in years.

...based on the reviews here. Much of the credit for my surprise should go to the cast: all very good. I find it interesting to watch excellent actors (Moore, Duchovny, Barkin) flesh out new characters. Overall, despite flaws, this film is intelligent, and fresh just often enough to be worth watching. I cared about the fate of the two couples, particularly the Gyllenhall/Crudup duo. Sure, there were cliches, as in another parody of 12-Step and other support groups, and the "biological clock ticking" bit. However, as in the case of the latter, there's truth at the heart of many of these. If Trust the Man ended a bit more "Hollywood"/all loose ends resolved, I'd have thrown my shoe at the screen. Anyway, here's one little negative postcript: Amazon makes it look like the magnetic Ellen Barkin has a major role - unfortunately, not the case.

Giving it 5 cause I believe it has been way under rated. I believe the object was to laugh, and it was entertaining.

Besides I feel it did address valid points that many people shy away from, death, living life, etc.

It wasn't earth shattering, I still found it enjoyable!!!

Director/screenwriter Bart Freundlich's open valentine to Woody Allen's classic relationship comedies of the 1970's and 80's is a glossy-looking 2006 misfire partially redeemed by the sharp if somewhat misshapen performances of the four principals. Freundlich seems more infatuated with his favorite Lower Manhattan locales than realistically dissecting the rather insufferable characters complicating their lives with the gamesmanship of modern romance. More often than not, the result feels smug and half-baked for all the futile effort the cast puts into it. The focus is on two New York couples. Rebecca is a successful film actress making her first foray into theater, and her husband Tom is a former advertising whiz who decides to become a stay-at-home dad to their two children. Rebecca's brother Tobey is a commitment-phobic sportswriter more interested in keeping his highly valued parking spot than marrying his overly accepting girlfriend of seven years, Elaine, an aspiring children's book author.

Their lives intertwine at trendy eateries with heavy dialogue scenes that are woefully missing Allen's insightful wit despite Freundlich's intensive efforts. The inevitable complications ensue when each couple reaches a crisis stage forcing them to take action. As Rebecca, Julianne Moore, who happens to be Freundlich's wife, cannot help but be appealing, even though her character's intimacy issues are presented in rather broad strokes. A far cry from her haunting work in "Sherrybaby", Maggie Gyllenhaal expresses Elaine's passivity with a convincing winsomeness. David Duchovny's poker-faced performance as Tom comes across as self-satisfied rather than insightful about a husband's sense of self-worth. In the toughest role, a surprisingly comic Billy Crudup shows his versatility in bringing out the irresponsible slacker in Tobey, but his motivation for inaction is poorly sketched out.

Eva Mendes, Garry Shandling and Ellen Barkin appear in extended cameos that really do little to take advantage of their talents. And unfortunately, matters are not helped by a finale that leaves an artificial aftertaste. Special mention, however, should go to Tim Orr's clean cinematography, which makes New York look most inviting. The 2007 DVD is one of those irritating double-sided single discs that have the widescreen version on one side, while the other has the movie reformatted for the TV screen. There are eleven minutes of deleted scenes on one side, and a twelve-minute making-of featurette on the other. There is also a relaxed commentary track from Freundlich and Duchovny but surprisingly not Moore.

TRUST THE MAN is a director and a scriptwriter (Bart Freundlich) looking for a reason to justify this shallow, ill conceived, and ultimately boring movie. Supposedly we are to examine role reversal in modern marriages and the rise of the feminist to the head of the household. This is about stay at home dads, successful working moms, varying physical and psychological needs, failure to commit guys, and approaching the end of fertility zone women - and each of the four characters in the film try to make us care about their plights but just can't get past the clumsy script.

The cast is as fine as could be assembled to try to make this story matter: Julianne Moore with David Duchovny, Maggie Gyllenhaal with Billy Crudup, and such 'extras' as Garry Shandling, Sarah Knowlton, Dagmara Dominczyk and Justin Bartha. The four leads are always a pleasure to watch, even in a poor film, but put naive lines in their mouths and we just cringe. The ending is chicken soup without the healing factor. In the end this is a film to watch only for the leads: maybe turn off the sound...? Grady Harp, February 07

With all this talent in the mix, it would have been nice if this film had risen above mediocrity, but I still found it reasonably entertaining. There are a few laugh-out-loud scenes (my fave was Julianne Moore's passive-aggressive compliance with her husband's request that she narrate a porn video) and some clever theater references, and the rest is a string of bland and/or saccharine relationship cliches, but the cast is very attractive and I enjoyed the indie sound track.

Attractive people, great NYC scenes and apartments, but none of that could save this horrible poorly written mess of lousy, immature male characters, bland and clueless female characters, and extremely childish bathroom jokes. I could not even watch 2/3 rds of it. Really bad.

The Bottom Line:

As one of the three or four people in America who saw this movie in theatres, I am qualified to say that Trust the Man is really not worth spending money on; however, it should be said that while the film is forgettable and formulaic, it also offers enough laughs that you could do worse if one of your friends suggests watching it.

"Trust The Man" may not be for the mainstream, but it turns in great performances from Moore, Gyllenhaal, Crudup, and Duchovny. The plot is believable and the relationship dynamics are honestly portrayed. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good indie flick...

As with The TV Set, the only reason for watching this movie is David Duchovny. He's always great to look at. He does his best with a stupid script. Again, his female costar, Julianne Moore, is much less physically attractive than he is. Of course, by now, anyone who reads these reviews knows that I'm partial to Tea Leoni and Gillian Anderson.