Matrixston
Wow! Such a good movie.
Beanbioca
As Good As It Gets
Francene Odetta
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
Terrell Howell (KnightsofNi11)
It seems that wit and charm are the two things that make a good romantic comedy. Mr. Jealousy possesses these two things but doesn't always use them to its advantage. The movie is Lester Grimm, played by Eric Stoltz, who has had a jealousy problem ever since he started dating. This becomes a much bigger issue when he falls in love with Ramona, a girl who has been with an abundance of other men before Lester. One of these other men is author Dashiell Frank. Concerned that that Ramona may still have feelings for Dashiell, Lester starts going to group therapy sessions with him to find out the secrets he feels are being kept from him. This creates an amusing amount of clever situations that are all humorously brought about by Lester's own jealousy.This is one of those films that isn't very consistent in its quality, but if you stick with it, everything will be worth it in the end. The movie starts off fairly shallow and cliché. We meet our protagonist, Lester, and learn about his past dating experiences. We learn things that aren't surprising and are to be expected from this kind of film. Lester's not a hunk, but he's not a loser either. He's just a typical guy who has gone through pretty typical things. After a brief history of his character we meet the supporting cast, including Lester's girlfriend Ramona. Things develop in a typical manner and the film tries a little too hard to be a quirky comedy. There are specific cuts and quirky editing techniques all placed throughout for comedic effect, but not to much avail. It's amusing, but nothing special.The film really starts to get good when the plot thickens and the growing situation comedy aspect starts to bloom into something very entertaining. It starts with the group therapy sessions, which become the backbone of the story's progression, and the way these situations unfold are very entertaining. I think somewhere along the line Noah Baumbach, writer and director, realized that the comedy of this film comes from the clever wit the story's progression bares, rather than a bunch of sporadically placed and forced jokes. Towards the middle of the film I stopped regretting watching this movie and actually became engaged. The film also realized that the quirky style it had tried so desperately to make work in the beginning hadn't really gone anywhere, so it abandoned that and things greatly improved.And luckily the ending of the film doesn't disappoint. It doesn't wow you and it isn't terribly unexpected. It isn't the typical idealized romantic comedy ending. It is more realistic and bittersweet. When you break it down you can find some areas for improvement and I'm not saying the ending is perfect. But it fits and it isn't disappointing. It is basically what you would expect. It meets the same tone that most of the film has had, wrapping up the story nicely and making Mr. Jealousy a worthwhile watch.I didn't expect much from this film, and I after I started watching it I really felt like this was going to be an hour and forty minutes I would never get back. But as things move along the film gets much better. It isn't laugh out loud funny, but it is amusing and it is clever. Mr. Jealousy is nothing special, but it isn't a bad movie at all. It is a film that enjoys itself, with likable characters and very entertaining situations. I wouldn't watch it again, but I have no regrets.
LynxMatthews
If you haven't seen this film yet, just wait a few minutes until IFC shows it again. They seem to like it there.And me, I like it too. I find it to be a really smart, romantic and bittersweet film with a lot of funny moments and genuinely good acting. There is a certain pretentiousness, but it is self-effacing. Eigeman, for instance does a turn on his pompous shtick, adding subtle elements that make him a level-9 fop. Stoltz and Sciorra are perfect together. Jacott is hilarious in just about every scene he's in, particularly his wedding vows.I like movies where the central conceit of the movie does not become the entire movie. Jealousy is a theme in Stoltz's character, but it is not all of what drives him, which I guess is why some people have a problem with the title. Similarly, the plot device of invading someone's therapy group would be used as an entire basis for farce in a less subtle director's hands. Here it is merely another hilarious bit of detail off of which branch many smaller truths.For as much as IFC shows this, I can't stop watching it any time I begin.
jtur88
The downfall of nearly all comedies is that Silliness is so often used as a substitute for humor. In this film, I never felt embarrassed for any of the characters, who were allowed to seem like genuinely real people in the context of a genuinely humorous development. It was also literate, which was nice given the thread of narrative running through the thing. I felt that simply reading the script would have been a nice rainy-day read, but at the same time, the lines were not literarily pompous or turgid. Altogether, this was not a great film---but nicely, nothing happened in it to make it a bad one, either. If you're fed up with variations on same-old-same-old, sit back and just let this film flow over you.
ron-182
A film about relations; you may think: Oh no not an another one, not a Woody Allen remake. Wrong, this is a screwball comedy like the films with Cary Grant en Katherine Hepburn. Makes group therapy slightly ridiculous. Stoltz is great as the jealous lover, obsessed with the past of his present girlfriend.
