Trust The Man

Synopsis: Tom (David Duchovny) and Rebecca (Julianne Moore) seem happy enough together, but a staleness is creeping into their marriage. He’s opted to be a househusband, looking after their two small kids, while she is a star actor in theatre. Rebecca’s slacker brother Tobey (Billy Crudup) has been with his girlfriend Elaine, an aspiring writer, (Maggie Gyllenhaal) for seven years, but seems unable to make any commitment. We follow these typical New Yorkers as their relationships head into turmoil

My low scoring of this film doesn’t reflect my enjoyment of it. I was highly entertained, but have some serious criticisms of the closing scenes, which unfortunately destroy the earlier credibility of the characters and the script. That said, although this is a film that will no doubt be found wanting by highbrow film critics, it should entertain fans of the relationship genre and those who enjoy sit-com style of humour. All the good old formula stuff is here from the outset – the split screen credits opening, cut to family scene with kid on toilet, meet Tom the Dad, enjoying toilet humour with his kid, then cut to our next pair of characters, Tobey and Elaine, all efficiently done in a familiar way.

However, as the characters start to interact, we easily and quickly engage with them, and couples in the audience will quickly recognise the style of relating and the sort of problems each pair faces. There is a lot of witty dialogue, some of it actually quite fresh, with the couples’ behaviour seeming quite authentic. The boyish, amiable relationship between the two men generates some good laughs, as well as derision, as they both refuse to grow up or to really listen when their women try to communicate with them (of course, unlike much of real life, they manage to make some progress by the end of the film!). Yet although the script obviously aspires to be Woody Allenesque and very New York, it never reaches that director’s level of insight or humour.

The four actors at the core of the cast work extremely well together. Moore is strong as wife, mother and actor and Crudup excellent as the man-child who can’t relate authentically to anyone. Gyllenhaal is a truly fine actor, but for me the big surprise is long time X-Files star Duchovny who is not only a good comic, but has a sensitive streak and wide emotional range that makes him excellent for this type of role.

Surprisingly, there are some other excellent actors in relatively small roles: Garry Shandling as Tobey’s po-faced psychiatrist, Ellen Barkin as the sexy publisher with an eye for Elaine, and the voluptuous Eva Mendes as Faith, the flirtatious ex-girlfriend of Tobey.

Want more about this film?

Want something different?