BEFORE: The next obvious choice might be "I Now Pronouce You Chuck & Larry", but I don't have a copy of that, nor is it currently on my list. I was planning to watch this one next anyway, and Kevin James' cameo in "50 First Dates" really justifies my choice.
THE PLOT: A man discovers that his best friend's wife is having an affair.
AFTER: My sojourn in Hawaii is apparently over, as this film is firmly set in Chicago (and perhaps Detroit as well, since the main characters run an auto design firm. I'm not sure if Chrysler has an office in Chicago, or they traveled up to Michigan for the presentations.)
The tone here is darkly comic, the subject matter more serious. In conjunction with that, the physical humor causes real injury, which is more realistic but perhaps less entertaining as well. The title dilemma is whether to tell one's best friend about their cheating spouse, or let him live in (relatively) blissful ignorance. Complicating matters is the work being done on the electric muscle car engine, which is at a critical stage every time the lead character decides he needs to break the bad news.
I'm not a car guy, so I'm going to recuse myself from most analysis of plot points concerning car design and construction, but are we so shallow as Americans that we need our electric cars to rev and vibrate like sports cars? Apparently. I realize that some electric cars may be too quiet, which is itself a safety hazard, but this solution goes a bit too far.
As a friend once said to me, it sucks to be cheated on, but it also sucks to be the one cheating. Meaning that there are two sides (at least) to every story. This film seems to stack the deck against the cheating wife at first, then it pulls back and says, wait a minute, the situation is more complicated than it first seemed. But throw in as many complications as you want, they don't negate the wrongness of the original infidelity.
Further complications ensue when, unable to have an adult conversation with his best friend, our hero sets out to obtain tangible evidence of the affair (Why? He can't seem to break the news, will it be any easier with pictures?) All of his plans go awry (in a style similar to "Horrible Bosses"), and his shady actions and bruises lead his family and friends to think his gambling addiction has resurfaced. Again, it's more humor that's based on assuming the worst about people, and not giving them the benefit of the doubt.
But, maybe you find humor in seeing people in uncomfortable positions, and if so, there are some doozies here. Still, a great deal of pain and suffering could have been avoided if someone had been willing to have an honest but admittedly difficult conversation early in the film.
NITPICK POINT: The film's trailer got a lot of flack for the line "Electric cars are gay." With "gay" being used as shorthand for something the speaker doesn't like. After protests from gay groups, the line was removed from the trailer, but not the film - because the director felt that would be censorship. Maybe so, but if a line is likely to offend more than 10% of the audience, why keep it? Find another way.
Also starring Vince Vaughn (last seen in "The Cell"), Winona Ryder (last seen in "Little Women"), Jennifer Connelly (last seen in "Creation"), Channing Tatum (last seen in "The Eagle"), Queen Latifah (last seen in "Valentine's Day"), with a cameo from Clint Howard (last seen in "The Cat in the Hat").
RATING: 4 out of 10 hockey sticks
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