TrueFanMissy "If I Were You" is brilliantly funny. The writing is clever, fresh and funny. And the directing brings out hilarious performances. I just wonder why I never heard of the film before yesterday. Marcia Gay Harden shakes from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet - as women do when they learn their husbands are having an affair. And her immediate actions start a comedic snowball that she just can't get away from. Without giving a spoiler, just wait until you see her at work. Best and most honest conference room scene ever. I read a few reviews of "If I Were You" by some clueless movie critics who must be so entrenched in the Hollywood machine they just wouldn't know a truly funny movie if it slapped them in the face. Why only a 9? (1) It is a bit long for an easy Saturday night watch-after-the- kids-are-in-bed movie. (2) the bottle of scotch gag goes on too long. Other than that -- I love it. The previous night I watched Nancy Meyers "The Holiday" and agonized through the first lame, predictable hour before it got interesting - I say "If I were You" is much better written and directed. So watch it. I'm a little embarrassed that I never heard of this writer-director before, but then Hollywood has made a full-time job of pushing intelligent women and their intelligent films to the side so that some truly horrible men can stay in control.

rkhen If you grew up in the 70s and 80s, you'll recognise the Neil Simon pretense of this movie. Though it has neither the fast pace nor the wicked writing of a Simon production, it's well done and entirely worth an evening's light viewing. The depiction of a main character in an agonising predicament, but whose basic decency wins out time and again over her broken heart, is rare in popular culture, and brilliantly performed by Marcia Gay Harden.

danbranan I only recently discovered this little gem on Netflix and I was really impressed. This independent film is everything that so many Hollywood films aren't (anymore): complex, interesting, challenging, funny. The acting (especially Marcia Gay Harden and Aidan Quinn) is excellent. Despite its 2-hour run-time and complex plot, it never bogs down. Director Joan Carr-Wiggin does an admirable job of keeping the story moving and relatable through all the twists and turns of the plot and subplots. In fact, the story itself mirrors the Shakespearean structure with intrigue, mistaken or confused identities, poignant subtext, etc. And to top it all off, there's no formulaic development or "Hollywood ending" to ruin the great story! This film is truly delightful and its a shame that it did so unbelievably poorly at the box-office. The critics have not done it justice, either, giving one-line reviews that make me wonder if they even watched it. If you check on Rotten Tomatoes, you'll see that the audience score is around 70%, while the critic's score is at 9%! Definitely a disconnect with reality, in my opinion. It's not a perfect film, and if IMDb allowed it I would have given it an 8.5, but it's certainly MUCH better than its critical ratings and box-office earnings indicate.

ksf-2 Just as her husband says he will be coming home late, Madelyn sees him with another woman in the coffee shop. Instead of confronting them, she meet the woman, and oddly, becomes her friend. Written and directed by Joan Carr Wiggin, whose works are all about relationships, marriages, engagements. Marcia Harden is Madelyn, whose husband Paul is cheating with the MUCH younger Lucy (Leonor Watling). They strike up a friendship, lots of talking, discussing, psycho-analyzing, kind of like a woody allen movie. But... Madelyn doesn't tell Lucy that she is "the wife", and already knows what they are up to. They agree to help each other. Some funny lines. Lots of cussing, so leave the young uns back home! It's mostly a fun roller coaster of an adventure. Misunderstandings, lies, the usual caper ingredients. It's not always sure what it wants to be; netflix has this under COMEDY, but it's really a drama. Some serious scenes with Madelyn's mother, who is not at all well. Madelyn is very real, and she is all around us, with her sense of humor, and weaknesses. Check it out! Not bad.