The Dilemma Review

                                                             2 Nuts

Director: Ron Howard

Romantic comedies generally follow a similar format.  At first everyone is happy, there are initial funny moments, then a conflict arises and the two main characters get into an argument which ultimately is resolved at the end of the film.  Unfortunately, the conflict in this romantic/buddy comedy drags on for too long.  The film is about two best friends in their early 40s.  They work together selling inventions to car companies.  Ronny, played by Vince Vaughn, is the salesman and Nick, played by Kevin James, is the engineer who actually works on the cars.  The two had just signed an agreement to develop a product for Dodge and Nick is really feeling the pressure to produce.  The problem arises when Ronny accidentally catches Nick’s wife Geneva, played by Wynona Ryder, cheating on him with another man.   Ronny can’t decide if he should just come out and tell his friend what he had seen or wait until after Nick finishes their current commitment with Dodge.

Spoiler Alert: It takes Ronny a damn long time to tell Nick.  I sat there frustrated and annoyed waiting for Ronny to man up and just tell his friend what was going on.  Instead Ronny wastes time by playing detective, spying on the personal lives of both Nick and Geneva.

Ronny tries repeatedly to gather proof to show his friend, but nothing seems to go right for this guy, and the film just becomes depressing to watch.  The two characters don’t have great chemistry together and the movie falls a bit flat.  Kevin James’s character is awful; he has truly become typecast as a sad, pathetic loser.  I’ve seen Kevin James be very funny plenty of times in his television show but he does not seems to reach his potential in this film.  By the end I wasn’t sure if I was watching a comedy or a bad drama on marriage.

Vince Vaughn has some hilarious moments and these moments help pull this film out of the gutter.  This is classic Vince Vaughn supported with some very humorous dialogue.  I found myself laughing along with the rest of the audience at quite a few of his lines.

In a peaNut Shell:  This film adds nothing really groundbreaking to the buddy/comedy genre.  Vince Vaughn helps it with some very funny moments.  In the end we leave the theater glad the movie is over.