Review of The Ex (1996) by Ray L — 09 Jan 2009

The Ex (2006).

Staring Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman, and Charles Grodin.

Tom Reilly (Zach Braff) and Sofia Kowalski (Amanda Peet) are married and about to have a baby. Tom is an underachiever when it comes to his career, while Sofia is a high-profile attorney, who decides to quite her job to become a stay at home mother. The couple ends up moving out of New York City after Tom loses his job as a chief, and ends up living in Ohio, where Tom starts working for Sofiaâ??s father, Bob Kowalski (Charles Grodin) at an advertising agency. It is there where Tom meets Chip (Jason Bateman), a man whose life is trapped in a wheelchair. Chip is went to the same high school as Sofia, and was on the cheerleading team with her. Chip is jealous, and wants Sofia back, and so the games begin.

This film, which centers on the fighting between Chip and Tom over Sofia, is a slow paced, and boring film. There are some jokes and high points in the film, but at the end it the whole film comes crashing down on itself. There is no real ending to the film; we never learn what really happens to all of the characters, and how all of the problems between them are solved. This film just ended right where it started, back in New York City, with Sofia working and Tom staying home. However, nothing is ever learned of Chip, Bob, and Wesley (Lucian Maisel), who was to star in a television ad. The film just dropped off once it got to it climax. What hurt this film was it was short, it was only 84 minutes long, and the climax of the film happened at about the 75th minute.

I give this film a 1 out of 4 stars. I like Zach Braff but his movies have fallen short since Garden State. This film had another title attached to it, Fast Track, well this film had nothing fast about it. I donâ??t recommend this film unless you are a true Zach Braff fan and want to watch everything he is in. Unfortunately Zach Braff, at times, acts like J.D. from Scrubs, which doesnâ??t really work in this film.