Review of The Dilemma (2011) by Corey B — 25 Feb 2012

Not the disaster I was expecting, but it doesn't go far enough. The central concept is good, and the first hour builds nicely, and it gets darker and darker as it goes along, but then it starts to feel forced.

The problem, which was also present in Hall Pass, is that it wants to be emotionally affecting and darkly funny. It wants you to care about the characters, but also find their behaviour repellently hilarious. In the end, instead of being punished for carrying the burden of "The Dliemma" Vaughan is rewarded, not because it's true to the character, but because a happy ending makes the whole movie more commercial. Sure he gets a few, "why didn't you tell me" punches to the face, but for the most part, this is a happily ever after fairy tale.

Had it followed its convictions and gone down the dark comedy path completely this could have been a really funny little oddity. Had it decided to be an emotionally honest comedy it could have been touching (a nice counterpoint is Vaughan's "The Break-Up" which finds some real poignancy amidst its craziness), but most of the emotional notes ring false. So, instead, it's a movie that falls right in the middle, not going in one direction or the other, and coming across as a whole slew of half-baked decisions.

I feel like this started out as a clever script, and got sanitized throughout the production.