Julianne Moore leads a cast hard-pressed to overcome writing deficiencies.
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
Published September 14, 2006
Trust the Man is like a novel co-written by a parade of talented authors, each picking up a new chapter where another left off. The idea is better than the execution, which results in jarring conflicts of tone and narrative, pedigreed junk making a few dollars and not much sense.
Thing is, only one name gets a screenwriting credit: Bart Freundlich, whose claim to fame is being married to Julianne Moore, which explains why she got involved with such hackneyed material. Marriage shouldn't demand such loyalty. Even Freundlich seems to realize that Trust the Man is a movie of multiple personalities, because none merits attention for a feature-length film.
The movie wildly veers from sitcom romance to smut humor, from faux Woody Allen to spit-takes and pratfalls. One scene may be based on poop jokes, while the next delves into decidedly unfunny marital discord. Choosing someone to root for is impossible since they're all jerks of one sort or another. This movie makes The Break-Up seem downright mushy.
Moore plays Rebecca, a movie star preparing her Broadway debut. Her husband Tom David Duchovny is a stay-at-home father. His best friend is Rebecca's brother, Tobey (Billy Crudup), sharing his affinity for porn Web sites. Tobey's live-in lover, Elaine (Maggie Gyllenhaal), is Rebecca's best friend, so the women have plenty of chances to complain about their mates' lack of ambition and sexual incompatibility. How cozy is that?
Each will be tempted to stray: Rebecca by a puppyish co-star, Tom by someone who'll share his kinks, Tobey by a former flame (Eva Mendes) now married, and Elaine by some guy whose character is solely muscle definition.
A trendy pop soundtrack kicks in when everyone pauses to consider their lot in life, which happens a lot without anyone doing much to improve it. Whatever one dislikes about the movie is topped (or bottomed) by a convoluted climax on Rebecca's opening night, when the expected reconciliations are applauded by strangers who haven't endured the rest of the story.
