Review of My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006) by Markb. — 06 Aug 2006

Moviegoers who attend or rent LOTS of films--especially ones where the commercials or trailers are the best thing about them--are all too used to hearing, reading or uttering phrases like "This was a really interesting/ original/ cute idea, but the way they pulled it off was totally disappointing/ unimaginative/ bad".

My Super Ex-Girlfriend is NOT one of those movies. The tale of a hapless Everyman (Luke Wilson) who unwisely dates superheroine G-Girl (Uma Thurman), then even more unwisely dumps her only to find that she's as much Alex Forrest as Diana Prince, this completely delightful, thoroughly refereshing coctail is not only the terrific, souffle-light antidote we all needed to this summer's curious run of dismal Rotten Relationship movies (Failure to Launch, The Breakup, Click) but it's also a smarter, more insightful Superheroes Need Love Too flick than that really expensive one out there about the guy who got Lois Lane pregnant.

After last year's abysmal romcom Prime, Thurman has found a role (TWO roles, actually) that she sinks her teeth into with flawless timing and great energy: as both G-Girl and her secret identity, mousy-but-smoldering Jenny Johnson, she proves that allowing five acting nominations in comedy as well as drama is the one area where the Golden Globes do it smarter than the Oscars: Thurman is absolutely deserving of nominations for both awards.

And talk about sibling rivalry: while brother Owen is currently smelling up the screen in his latest been-there-done-that incarnation as a slacker dude in Me, You & DePoo, Luke Wilson gives an utterly charming, classic leading man performance that easily calls up memories of 1930s James Stewart and 1950s Jack Lemmon.