'The Dilemma'

'The Dilemma' (PG-13) (2 stars)

Writer: Allan Loeb
Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder, Channing Tatum,
Queen Latifah, Chelcie Ross, Amy Morton, Clint and Rance Howard

Those expecting a broad comedy out of Ron Howard's "The Dilemma" might find something a little more darker and serious. I didn't know what to expect but I didn't mind the movie getting serious. Without the underlying drama dealing with adultery this would be a lame "Three's Company" type farce. This is the idiot plot where if the characters would just be honest and talk to each other none of the dumb stuff that happens here would take place. Vince Vaughn (Ronny) and Kevin James (Nick) play best friends and business partners in the auto industry. Ronny and Nick live in Chicago and Ron Howard's best attribute here is how he uses our great city. Nick is married to Geneva (Winona Ryder) and Ronny is engaged to Beth (Jennifer Connelly). One day Ronny sees Geneva kissing another man. He is torn up because he doesn't know if he should tell Nick about what he has seen. The dilemma of the title is if he should tell Nick about the affair knowing that it will break Nick's heart. He does confront Geneva about the affair and begs her to confess but she will definitely not do that.

This leads to scenes where Ronny spies on Geneva and this other man and tries to take pictures so he can give Nick proof of the affair. The first problem I had with this movie is that the plot is full of contrivances that are hard to believe. The other problem is that when Ronny spies he either gets beat up or falls in a bunch of poison flowers. These scenes are not funny and pretty painful to watch, like bad slapstick. The best scenes deal with pure dialogue between Vince Vaughn and Winona Ryder. Ronny tells Geneva he is going to spill everything to Nick and Geneva threatens to tell Nick that Ronny hit on her. I have talked before about how great Vaughn is at delivering great chunks of dialogue. There is a potentially great scene where Ronny makes a speech at Beth's parent's anniversary party. In the beginning Vaughn is hilarious doing what he does best but the scene goes on too long and loses it's impact after a while.

When the movie starts getting serious and the theme of morality and adultery are explored I felt the movie worked best. I was tired of all the bad scenes of Vaughn getting pummelled while spying on Geneva. The comedy is weak and doesn't work here but in the end when the movie gets dark and challenging I liked it more. I think we forget how great of a serious actor Vince Vaughn can be. He is a compelling, dramatic actor and Winona Ryder is also fantastic here. Their scenes together are classic and drive the heart of the movie. I found the Kevin James character too "King of Queens", James has played this character before. I also think that the Jennifer Connelly character is weakly written and she only has one good scene to act out. This is a movie that doesn't know what it wants to be and it is being marketed as a comedy and people will be surprised that is really a drama with little comic pieces here and there. I was surprised that Ron Howard directed this because for the first time in his career I have found a movie of his that has no real focus or drive. I kept seeing a great movie buried in here somewhere and again Hollywood can't find a great vehicle for Vaughn to star in. In one scene Ronny tells Geneva that she is like Sybil which fits this movie well. The movie has two personalities, comedy and drama, and they don't mix well.