The Ex Review
The spirit of a good Farrelly brothers movie comes alive in The Ex, a surprisingly likeable comedy, with just enough oddball curves up its sleeve to avoid feeling overly familiar. In fact, in the same year the Farrellys released their misanthropic version of The_Heartbreak_Kid, director Jesse_Peretz reminds them how to get their own tone right -- without losing the naughty edginess. To extend the analogy, Zach_Braff plays the role that Ben_Stiller used to play better than he currently does, exasperated yet earnest. In such a broad physical comedy, Braff could have slouched toward his tired Scrubs mugging, but here he shows that his more highfalutin projects have rubbed off on him -- at least a little bit. That broad physicality is no indictment, however, as the definite key to this film is Braff's rival, played by Jason_Bateman, who's wheelchair-bound yet unworthy of the sympathy usually associated with that. Any viewer who wondered how they were going to pull that off need not worry -- Bateman makes his Chip deliciously detestable, but without crossing over into camp. Their bitter jockeying plays out over a number of good set pieces, most awkwardly, when the able-bodied Braff gets tricked into a game of wheelchair basketball -- where everyone else thinks he's paralyzed. The writing zips, with Amanda_Peet giving it more oomph than anyone. Even Charles_Grodin has a winning supporting role as Peet's father, showing he's still got whip-smart comic timing. It's risky to hand out such accolades to a relatively inconsequential comedy, but The Ex needs a little extra help, as it was brutally received by a number of critics. That's a shame, because there are a lot of laughs in this movie -- and not just guilty ones, either. Derek Armstrong, Rovi
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