REVIEW: The Dilemma

MOVIE
The Dilemma

CAST
Vince Vaughn, Kevin James

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
January 14, 2011

DIRECTOR
Ron Howard

STUDIO
Universal Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 51 minutes






GRADE
B (84)





STARS
**1/2










REVIEW:

Ah, you'd think that the combination of comedians Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, and Academy Award winning director Ron Howard would be a match made in heaven, right? Well for some, probably. For me, not so much. It's a shame that The Dilemma isn't as funny or good as you'd expect from all of the trailers out there. It's not that the movie isn't funny, because I did chuckle a few times. But in the end, it's such a Dilemma that this movie didn't live up to expectations.

The film centers around two best friends/business partners named Ronny and Nick. The two men have terrific lives, yet are attempting to get a job deal going on. But things are put on hold for Nick as Geneva, Nick's lovely wife is seen having an affair with a man named Zip. As Ronny is trying to figure out whether to tell Nick, he is confronted with many other secrets, dark memories from the past, and to decide on what's the most important in his life.

Now I'm not saying that this movie was one of the worst movies of 2011, but it may be n my Worst of 2011 list due to the rating system I have. If you're going in expecting a funny comedy with a bunch of sexual and raunchy jokes, well you chose the wrong movie for that. I could probably describe this movie as a bromantic dramedy, rather than a raunchy comedy. This movie is more dark than it shows in the previews. I could compare this movie slightly to Jim Carrey's 1996 dark comedy The Cable Guy. You would go in expecting the typical Jim Carrey comedy, but you get a movie that is in fact very dark and a little bit haunting. Now this movie was far from being haunting, but the story is a bit dark as the movie progresses. Also in this movie, you learn that everyone has secrets that can hurt somebody, yet you don't know what to do with those secrets. Like the slogan for the movie says, "The Truth Hurts".

The problem with this movie is that it leads you to believe that it's something that it's not. Yes, I can consider this movie a comedy, but the laughs are kept very minimum. For teens that are big fans of Vince Vaughn and Kevin James, I wouldn't recommend this movie to them. It's not that it's not appropriate, I just don't think they'd understand the plot to much, or just get so bored that they would walk out of the theater. This was a movie made by a skilled director that was intended for mature audiences. Also, I believe that I myself am probably not the most mature person to see this movie, being 13 and all. That might explain why I didn't laugh too much in the movie. But maybe it's because the movie actually did suck. But who am I to be trusted with a Ron Howard movie. I hated The Dark Knight for a few years, anyway, but later found the movie to be quite spectacular.

This movie isn't something that I would see again and again, but in a few months when it comes out on DVD and my parents rent it, I might have to watch it again to give myself a second opinion. The cast was good, but not terrific. The movie was funny, but not hilarious. The story was interesting, but not grabbing to some audiences. I had more laughs in the previews than I did in the entirety of the movie. When I saw the movie, the audience total in the theater was about 8 or 9, (due to it being a morning show) but I barely heard laughter in the movie at all. Not to mention that the only parts that I laughed at were parts only shown in the trailer. (Yes, I even laughed at the controversial "gay" joke) I can't control you going to see the movie, but I would strongly recommend saving the $20 on going to see this in the theater and wait for it on DVD. So to close off this review, the real Dilemma o this movie is that it's one of the most disappointing movies I've seen in 2011 so far, and I haven't even seen The Green Hornet yet! But hey, people have different opinions, so some of you who are reading this review might actually enjoy The Dilemma. I'm just one of the people who didn't like it.

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