Review of The Dilemma (2011) by Elliot N — 21 Aug 2011

Ron Howard is an inconsistent director; most of his films are either bad (The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons) or good (Apollo 13, Frost/Nixon). When Ron Howard's films are good then they are very entertaining and interesting when they are bad they are really bad and The Dilemma is a really bad film. Twenty years since Parenthood, Ron Howard seems to have lost his comic touch as there is one noticeable absentee missing from The Dilemma. Laughs.

The film starts with the four main characters, Ronny, Nick, Beth and Geneva chatting, joking and generally having a good time. It looks like everyone is happy but Ronny (Vince Vaughn) soon has a dilemma on his hands (hence the name of film) as he catches Geneva (Winona Ryder) getting to personal with another man played by Channing Tatum. Should Ronny tell his best friend, Nick (Kevin James) and having to cope with the whole 'shoot the messenger thing.' Ronny then follows Geneva to gain photographic evidence of the affair while planning to propose to Beth (Jennifer Connelly).

At an age rating of 12 The Dilemma is not going to be the crude humour of the Farrelly brother's comedy or the American Pie franchise, so there is a chance for the humour to shine though in the script with the use of swear words. The Dilemma is so boring and so laugh free that it's hilariously unfunny. The first hour of The Dilemma is so tedious and so devoid of laughs that you have your own dilemma whether you should watch the remaining 55 minutes with the belief it will be just as boring as the first hour. The first laugh is on the hour mark (as Vaughn uses a can deodorant and a lighter as a weapon) and there is a slight feeling of hope that Ron Howard may pick up the pieces and stitch them back together but then it falls into pieces again when a poor, unfunny joke overstays its welcome and drags on for what feels like an eternity. Just like the joke mentioned, Ronny attempts to act all hard threatening Zip, the toast at Beth's parents fortieth year anniversary party also overstays its welcome, prolonging your boredom for two witless, wearisome minutes. Further jokes fail including electric cars being 'gay' and far too many to mention and naming them all would only be depressing as it highlights current state of the comedy genre on the big screen.

Kevin James, Vince Vaughn and Ron Howard have all worked previously in comedy, all with some success but recently Vince Vaughn's and Kevin James' comedy quality has been going downhill, Kevin James, who has worked with Adam Sandler a few times, is no longer funny. One of his more recent films is Mall Cop which is nothing more than 90 or so minutes of fat jokes. Not since James' sitcom King of Queens has James ever been slightly funny. This does raise the question of why is American sitcom comedy much higher in quality than American cinematic comedy. Take the endless Adam Sandler rubbish and Scrubs as an example, the latter is far better. Perhaps it's just sheer laziness. The Dilemma is lazy, the performances are not terrible but the problem is not any of the performers stand out, they are all just lost amongst the boring story. The viewer never engages with any of the characters, they do not care about them; you do not care what happens to them and nothing is worth your interest. It is, surprisingly, Channing Tatum as the sensitive guy who gets most of the very few weak smiles that The Dilemma has to offer. Though granted the sensitive tough guy act has been overdone, Tatum does it rather well. Furthermore, Queen Latifah brings some energy to the film but she over performers her role, hams the whole film up and it's the type of energy we could have done without. Latifah is incredibly annoying in this.

The Dilemma is a comedy and a drama but it has no comedy and no drama. The story is neither funny nor dramatic, the dilemma that Ronny has is uninteresting. The viewer does not believe in any of the characters or any of the situations that occur. Ron Howard has make a dud of a movie that is truly terrible, the story and the characters are never engaging, the story never makes you laugh, the story is never credible and it's nothing more than 110 or so minutes of random, bland and unoriginal scenes that don't even come close to creating a story of any kind. Ron Howard has made a truly terrible film that is boring throughout, that one can't take seriously, why are Winona Ryder and Jennifer Connelly with these two men? It's hardly surprising that Geneva would cheat on Nick. You don't really sympathise with Nick either as the director Ron Howard has not given you a reason to do so. There is nothing to really warm to the character, there is nothing to even remotely like about the character, granted the pair are not as detestable, hateable and repulsive as Owen Wilson and Jason Sudekis in Hall Pass, so that's a positive thing to say about The Dilemma. The script is witless and joke free (a growing trend about mainstream comedy movies). Both Hall Pass and The Dilemma are frankly appalling attempts to mix drama with the comedy, to be honest it's an insult to the comedy genre to label these films comedies. The Dilemma runs for 110 minutes and I felt every single one of those minutes.

The Dilemma is a poor film with no drama, no laughs, no wit, for the best part of hour The Dilemma is intolerable, there are moments where you can bite your lip and solider through it but it took a lot of will power not to give up and end the film early and never watch it again. It feels lazy, none of the characters are in anyway engaging, the scenario's are just unbelievable and the story is bland. When someone purposes to see this, there should be no dilemma.

1/5.