Quick, pop quiz: what do you call a movie that is so unmemorable that you forgot you watched it, so bland that you'd have more fun eating vanilla ice cream, and so indistinguishable that it has no trait that lends itself to a meaningful title?The Ex.
Did you answer correctly? If so, you might not be the target audience for this blandfest.
The Ex stars Zack Braff and Amanda Peet as Tom and Sofia, a married couple that moves to Ohio so that Tom can support his wife and newborn son by working for his father-in-law's ad agency. We are introduced to such quirky characters as Bob (Charles Grodin), Sofia's slightly loopy dad, Don (Donal Logue), the new age boss, and Chip (Jason Bateman), the hot shot handicapped mentor to Tom. However, it quickly becomes clear that Tom and Chip do not see eye to eye, and it's not just because Chip is in a wheel chair. It seems Chip and Sofia once dated in high school, and he may still have a thing for her.
Zach Braff and Jason Bateman were the stars of two of the best, most original sitcoms of the decade, Scrubs and Arrested Development, respectively. So the fact that this feels more like an episode of According To Jim is depressing. There is nothing subversive, nothing original, nothing daring here. Every joke, every plot point feels stolen from something else. There is honestly no reason at all for this movie to even exist, we've literally seen it all before. The film also wastes a surprisingly strong set of actresses. Amanda Peet is reduced to sitting at home playing with the baby and feeling lonely. Amy Poehler seems to be setting up a storyline, but then she mysteriously disappears halfway into the film. And Oscar nominee Amy Adams pops up for no real reason other than to give Sofia an antagonist for two scenes. In short, this film is an assemblage of some great talent and everyone is utterly wasted.
I hate beating up on films like this, because they are essentially harmless. I especially hate beating up on Braff and Bateman, who I truly like quite a bit. But did no one at any point stand up and say "What are we doing here? Can't we fix this?" That kind of laziness is depressing, and the cold hard fact is that there was no reason for this movie to ever be made, and even less reason to see it.
Charles Grodin came out of retirement for this?
