DVD Reviews

My Super Ex-Girlfriend

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• Starring: Luke Wilson
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Unlucky in love and all-round affable sort Matt (Wilson) begins to date the prissy but controlling Jenny (Thurman) after he rescues her handbag from a subway assailant. As the relationship develops, Matt discovers that Jenny moonlights as New York Superhero G-Girl, and is also a bit on the bonkers side (think Superman by way of Liza Minelli), so he bins her super ass, only to live to regret it when she takes it badly. Ivan Reitman has been living in the shadow of Ghostbusters for over 20 years now, and has been churning out high-budget comedy after high-budget comedy with little impact on critics or the box-office. My Super Ex-Girlfriend pretty much defines why, apart from producing the likes of Old School, Reitman's career has known diminutive success since his long-passed heyday. Fundamentally, this is a badly directed, scripted and acted movie with very little to offer, other than an underused Anna Farris and a sporadically funny Rainn Wilson. So many jokes fall flat - particularly a continuous sub-plot involving a cringingly-unfunny Wanda Sykes; and another, with an incredibly miscast Eddie Izzard (as super villain Professor Bedlam) unfolds with the ineptitude of a badly-constructed student movie. Izzard is a naturally hilarious and undoubtedly talented man; but here, he doesn't so much phone-in his performance as realise it wasn't working after a couple of scenes and abandon it. But this mess is hardly Izzard's fault, or even the typically bland Luke Wilson (another actor capable of so much better).The blame lies firmly at the door of Reitman, who really needs to go back to the drawing board and pull another decent script from his ass before he descends even further into the cinematic anus he has so handsomely crafted for himself. MSE-G is rescued from one-star notoriety by Rainn Wilson and Farris, who provides enough charm to make you yearn that she'd bagged the lead role. Instead, it went to the unimpressive Thurman, who must really be hoping Quentin bangs out another iconic character with her in mind, el pronto.

Review by Mike Sheridan