The Dilemma
Review submitted by Mark David Campbell
I wasn't sure going in to see The Dilemma if it was going to be a comedy with dark understones or a drama with occasional funny moments. Given the presence of Vince Vaughn and Kevin James, I was leaning toward the former. Regrettably, director Ron Howard and his cast never really seem to make up their mind, pinballing from one choice to the other without staying put long enough to really be classified as either one.
Which is a shame, because the film's premise had a lot of potential: Ronny (Vaughn) and his best friend Nick (James) are business partners who have been best friends for decades. However, Ronny is put into a moral quandary when he discovers, quite by accident, Nick's wife (Winona Ryder) having an affair with a younger man (Channing Tatum): if he tells Nick, it could ruin a possible lucrative business opportunity they're trying to land; if not, he risks his friendship with Nick.
Vaughn brings his usual mixture of smarm and likability to Ronnie, which is what I've come to expect from him. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast is completely wasted: Kevin James, so funny in The King of Queens, is static and vacant as Nick, and Jennifer Connelly has little or nothing to do as Ronnie's girlfriend. Only Ryder seems to be having fun in the role, because she gets to put on her evil bitch costume while going toe-to-toe with Ronny. Tatum is basically just a hunk of beefcake that could be played by any odd slab of prime rib.
What's worse are the movie's subplots, including the aforementioned business deal, a sleep-inducing sideline involving an electric-car deisgn, as well as a completely unnecessary gambling problem that Howard decided to give Ronny in order to create some comedic situations that fall completely and utterly flat. The best moment is from a scene you may have scene in the trailer, the one where Ronny makes an inappropriate toast at a wedding, which may in time be considered a classic Vaughn moment. If only it had taken place in a different film.
The film ends with a good ol' bit-o'-slapstick, where Ronny and Nick's bro-mantic relationship comes to a head. As an ending, it's completely out of place and fields like it was added at the last minute. It makes no sense at all and it isn't even remotely funny.
When you put together talented names like Ron Howard, Vince Vaughn and Kevin James, you expect something that's well-written, lively and fun. Well, one out of three ain't bad. Oh, wait a minute, yes it is.
2 / 5 stars
