The Ex

Ex misses the spot
5/15/07

Another post-Oscars pre-Summer Blockbuster disaster.

The opening of this movie offers a lot of promise. Tom (Zack Braff) and a very pregnant Sophia (Amanda Peet) are lying in bed trying to decide on a name for their new baby. After a series of humorous options they eventually agree to wait before making any decisions and Tom leaves for work. Thus concludes the funniest five minutes of the movie.

Tom then heads to work, where instead of earning the promotion he was hoping for, he gets fired for shooting his mouth off. While he is wallowing in self-pity, he gets the call that Sophia has gone into labor. After having the baby (and naming him Oliver, after their anaesthesiologist) the couple decides it's time for Tom to take his father-in-law (Charles Grodin) up on the job offer at his small advertising firm in Ohio. They pack up their sedan and hit the road. When Tom arrives at his first day at work he meets Chip Sanders (Jason Bateman), Sophia's old fling, his father in law's sycophant and his new boss. Needless to say the two don't get a long.

The rest of the movie flows like a bad episode of Three's Company: one misunderstanding after another. Sophia's father gets fired, a major account is lost, Sophia moves out, and Tom is beaten up during a game of wheelchair basketball when he is discovered to not be a paraplegic. Everyone hates Tom; the man cannot catch a break, until the writers decided that they needed to wrap up the movie, so for no good reason everyone all of a sudden is back on Tom's side.

This movie made no sense, the script was lame and Charles Grodin's dye job made him look rediculous. I wish I had more to say about this movie, some redeaming qualities, but there really aren't. For the amount of times I laughed, I rolled my eyes twice as much so I can't even say that the humor was a redeaming factor. The Ex certainly did not lead to any treasure.