The Dilemma

The open scene of The Dilemma is reminiscent of some of the earlier Vince Vaughn films, when he was still displaying some edge, humour and charm. Unfortunately its downhill all the way from there on. The set-up might have made a decent comedy or farce in the past - a guy thinks his best friend's wife is cheating on him and doesn't know how to handle, his own girlfriend thinks he has re-succumbed to his gambling addiction because he's so distracted. Of course, if it had been made a few years ago, it would probably have turned out to be a misunderstanding in the end. Here of course, it is all very real. When you add to that Vaughn's character ends up going to places not just beyond all reason, but beyond all likeability - his speech at his girlfriend's parents' anniversary party is just awful and not in a funny way. So you end up with a film that is too dark to work as rom-com type effort, too shallow to have any emotional weight and too unlikeable to be worth bothering to define any further.

And if Vaughn's character becomes unlikeable, the women in the film come off even worse - Winona Ryder plays an obnoxious harridan of a wife, Queen Latifah has some of most excruciating dialogue ever - trust me, I never want to hear the phrase "lady wood" again. Jennifer Connelly's character is at least likeable, but under-developed and what on earth she is doing with Vaughn is a mystery. The whole sub-plot idea of trying to design an electric car to feel like a gas guzzling US classic is just stupid.

I'm about to write something i never thought I would and probably never will again - the film's main redeeming feature is Channing Tatum, who is surprisingly funny as Ryder's lover. He has most of the few genuinely funny moments in the film. There are also a few nice touches with imagined images changing as Vaughn tries to invent stories to cover his tracks, but all in all its really not worth it.

Overall - 4.5/10 It's not as bad as Little Fockers, but comes close. Vaughn should probably go to therapy rather than trying to work things out through film.