My Super Ex-Girlfriend

super_exgirlfriend.jpgrating-2.5A slight but mildly amusing movie, My Super Ex-Girlfriend plays off the premise of a generally nice guy taking a chance and going out on a date with a nondescript but strange woman who turns out to be a superheroine. Given that, the movie mainly falls flat, but tries desperately to be entertaining.

Perhps Uma Thurman just isn't cut out for comedy, because she definitely doesn't excel at it, always seeming somewhat misplaced in the mess of slapstick cliches. Luke Wilson, of course, turns in the same Everyman performance that he has in every movie ever, keeping him on par with everything else he's ever done, showing no real deviation from every other vaguely comedic role he's ever had.

Eddie Izzard, of course, comes out of the movie with some class, showing better and more solid performances than either of the big names, without even playing one of the comedic support roles.

Instead, Rainn Wilson carries all the comedy firmly on his shoulders, as he often does, and most of the genunely funny moments are all his.

Anna Faris breaks away from her average roles, playing the dim-witted buffoon, and actually plays the nice girl who we're all rooting for. By no means is the adorable Faris wasted on the comedy of a Scary Movie or Just Friends role, but it's nice to see her stretch her legs and sink her teeth into a role where we can really root for her as the real person instead of the charicature.

The movie plays out in a fairly satisfying fashion and Don Payne's writing is tolerable though by no means stellar. Ivan Reitman turns in sturdy workman-like direction, but you have to wonder when he lost his spark for making really funny or interesting movies. Or perhaps he never had it, as only Evolution, Ghostbusters, and Stripes have been suitably good films, the rest of his career falling into a limbo of mediocre and typically sub-par studio comedy fare.

You've seen this film before and you've seen it done better. It just can't manage to bring its moderate components together into something better and never really gives the viewer anything impressive to watch. You'll inevitably leave the movie the same as you came in.

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