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Shelf Beauties |
My Super Ex-Girlfriend My Super Ex-Girlfriend is a
movie desperately trying to be hip as it riffs on the super hero genre, but the
writer and director don’t love the subject enough to make it work. The best parodies come from people who love
the target (The Incredibles), and know how to point out its sillier side
(Anchorman). My Super Ex-Girlfriend
needed acclaimed comic fan and director Kevin Smith at the helm. Now, THAT is a movie I would want to see, and
one he would make endearing to the audience.
Luke Wilson stars as Matt
Saunders – a forlorn guy sadly in love with his co-worker, Hannah (Anna
Faris). Of course, she’s dating a
studly, dimwitted model (Mark Consuelos), so Matt decides to ask out a nice
lady, Jenny (Uma Thurman), he meets on the subway as he tries to rescue her
purse from a thief. However, Jenny is
not your run of the mill girl next door-type.
Jenny is just the Clark Kent-like alias for superhero G-Girl. As Matt and Jenny/G-Girl’s relationship
begins to progress, Matt realizes she’s a bit stifling, controlling and
distrustful. When Matt decides to end
the relationship, he finds out G-Girl is PSYCHO. Will G-Girl ruin Matt’s life
as she exacts revenge on him for breaking her heart? My Super Ex-Girlfriend is a
bland movie that isn’t quite sure if it is a parody of romantic comedies, parody
of superhero movies or parody of Uma Thurman.
Writer Don Payne makes a half-hearted attempt to lampoon the typical
scenes we expect like the super hero origin, and provides some laughs, but they
are few and far between, and feel like they are done out of obligation rather
than in an attempt to do something cool and fun. The result is a movie with a plodding pace,
predictable twists and turns, and forced scenes that don’t flow. Here’s the worst aspect of the
film. We get the most laughs from
watching G-Girl get revenge on Matt after the break up, but she has no reason
to be the woman scorned. She’s the one
who is putting pressure on the relationship with her behavior, so it’s not
funny or redeeming or fantasy fulfilling to watch her give Matt what he had
coming, because he doesn’t have it coming!
Even the origins of her battle against arch nemesis Professor Bedlam
(Eddie Izzard) make her look like the villain instead of a superhero. This revenge scenario was the main premise of
the film, and Payne and director Ivan Reitman try to build around it, but fail
miserably. This leaves the cast exposed
and trying to make something out of nothing at all. Thurman is OK, but never
really goes far enough to be crazy (she was much funnier in The Producers). Reitman isn’t committed to making her
absolutely nuts, so she never hits the extremes that make a movie funny. 1 ½ Waffles (Out Of 4) Copyright 2006 - WaffleMovies.com
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