OneEightNine Media Meh. I wish I could just write the word "meh" a hundred times and call it a review. The sad thing is that if I did go that route, I would be more than justified in doing so.

foutainoflife This was so worth watching. It had a few funny moments but the message is really heartwarming. I've seen a few comments that were negative but I can't see why they felt as they did. Ricky Gervais was the right choice for this. He has a unique way of bringing an awkwardness to his characters that is funny because it feels so sincere. I think that everyone can relate to this in some way or another. We all know people who are closed off to others. Some are angry, annoyed, lonely and I think a large majority of them are really just scared of give to much of themselves to someone who may just walk away. It is the Fight or Flight nature. You can fear the wounds that come along with trying to find those who are meant to be in your life by closing yourself off or you can brave the wounds and have those people walk through life with you.

A_Different_Drummer This is a belated review of a film 8 years old (as I write this) and daylight is a-burning so we don't have time to be coy or beat around the bush.The bottom line is, Tea Leoni did not make enough movies.And by that I mean if this were a plain run of the mill comedy with Gervais (WHO ALWAYS PLAYS HIMSELF) and any other lead actress, then it would be OK.But Leoni makes it part of a film archive. Makes it a treat to savour. She basically did not make enough movies.Leoni had that rare quality of (for lack of a better word) attractiveness that just leaped off the screen.Even as a young actress starting in TV, rumors were always flying that the producers were more interested in the actress herself than in the series they were producing.The parts she did get were always a variation of the classic role she played with Cage in 2000's the Family Man. (Recommended!) In that film she played a love interest powerful enough to make a successful bachelor give it all up and start over. And she sold it.In this film, 8 years after Family Man, she played a love interest powerful enough to make an awkward but funny man (think Woody Alan with a Brit accent) decide to go for the brass ring.And again she sold it.Look at the career of (for ex) Freddie Prinze. He played the same part at least a dozen times.But with Leoni we had to wait years between castings...? And now all we have are films like these. Treasure them.

piercejeans I just could not help when watching this movie this gnawing feeling deep inside that something was terribly wrong. Halfway through, Mel Gibson and Jerry Seinfeld came to mind. That is... Mel Gibson as Frank and Jerry Seinfeld as Pincus. THAT would have been a truly funny, well executed movie. Think "What Women Want" with Mel Gibson. And for Gwen's part... how bout Drew Barrymore? Okay, the fees for these people would have been high...but well worth it.I watched the movie through the lens of these new cast members injected into the rather blase renditions caused either by inept direction or just a bad read by Gervais, Leoni, and Kinnear. I wanted to fall asleep at times. Then when hearing instead through my mind's eyes and ears Seinfeld, Gibson, and Barrymore... the script is ingeniously hysterical and funny... and should have been. Chalk it up to lack of knowledge of young directors and producers. Ah Hollywood... if you could only get it right. I cry for the writers whose funny wordsmiths get crushed by lazy direction and acting. Altogether though... a very engaging script... if executed poorly, at best. They called this one in... but try to watch it like you are reading a book. That is, ignore the acting and direction, and see it done right by masters of comedy and Spielberg worthy direction.