THE DILEMMA follows Ronny (Vince Vaughn), an ex-gambling addict and one half of an auto design business with best friend Nick (Kevin James). The pair are trying to make it big by winning a contract with General Motors to produce classic man cars that are environmentally safe. But there’s a problem, Ronny witnesses Nick’s wife, Geneva (Winona Ryder), smooching with a young tattoo’s nut case in Zip (Channing Tatum). Ronny wants to be true to his best friend but also wants keep his friend in the game so that they win the contract. Further complications arise with Ryder being a bit of a crazy bitch and everyone thinking that Ronny has slipped back into his gambling ways.
Ron Howard has mainly been making Oscar friendly films for the last twenty years which marks THE DILEMMA has his first out-right comedy feature since HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS back in 2000 or even the 1982 film NIGHT SHIFT starring The Fonz. So to say that his funny bones are a little dusty is an understatement. The premise, a man withholding a major secret from his best friend, is one that could lead to a lot of funny and awkward conflicts but sadly the conflicts which Vince Vaughn’s character finds himself in are tame or tired, seen a hundred times before in other Vaughn films.
Kevin James, best known for THE KING OF QUEENS, PAUL BLART: MALL COP and the recent Adam Sadler film, GROWN UPS, doesn’t even have a joke in the film. He does his normal big boned fool routine but draws little to no laugh’s throughout and could of been easily replaceable. And that goes with everyone else in the film except Vaughn. The secondary characters are all incredibly generic with boring a turn from Jennifer Connelly (LABYRINTH) and a bunch of other people that no one remembers the names of. Channing Tatum (GI JOE: RISE OF COBRA) is better than expected as Zip, the tattoo’s man child but the character is underutilized in the comedy department. Ryder is good once she turns the dial up on bitchness but the audience loses the possiblity to sympathise for the character or her marriage which the film tries to rekindle towards the end. Queen Latifah might as well of not been in the film as all she is there for is to say some inappropriate remarks about her hard “lady wood”. This inappropriate type of comedy has been funny in the past but only when it’s a surprise like when an old person or child used to say it, but it’s not a surprise coming out of Latifah’s mouth.
As previously stated the premise is strong and had a lot of potential but executed in a predictable and extremely tired manner. Most of the film is spent with Vince Vaughn shouting “LOOK AT ME, I’M CRAZY FUNNY”, which he isn’t, five/ten years ago he was with DODGEBALL and ANCHORMAN but he has just been playing himself for far too long now. Saying that though there are a moment or two, especially the awkward speech Vaughn gives at the 40th annivesrary of Connelly’s parents. Apart from that the film is something that has been seen a hundred times and does not add anything or stand out in any shape or form. The film also drew some controversy from one particular joke that was seen in the first trailer about current electric cars being “gay”. Why this was controversial is beyond me as it isn’t funny (because of Vaughn’s delivery) or offensive and with the way the marketing of the film has gone looks as if they are betting the farm on getting an audience on this one joke which shows their faith in the film.
Please do not see this film and hopefully the movie industry will get the message and stop making bad comedies. But hey that’s just my opinion.
THE DILEMMA comes out this Friday if you see it, let us know what you think.
