Starring: Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder, Queen Latifah and Channing Tatum
Directed by: Ron Howard
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic elements involving sexual content
Genre: Drama with comedic overtones.
Running Time: 1 hr. 58 min
Release Date: January 14, 2011
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
By John Delia
A comedy with serious overtones fits the right genre for The Dilemma. The movie was not even a quarter of the way through and I could see where the script was taking me. It has been a long while since Vince Vaughn (The Break-Up) tackled a strong willed character like the one in this film and frankly I was not expecting that from what I saw in the trailer. Finding this out so quickly however, allowed me to recover and still be able to enjoy the film.
Ronny (Vaughn) and Nick (James) have been best friends since their college days. Now married Nick’s wife Geneva (Winona Ryder) has set up single Ronny with Beth (Jennifer Connelly) one of her friends, and the couples are seemingly very happy. Ronny has in his mind to pop the question to Beth, but wants the perfect setting. He decides on a garden wonderland with romance exuding from the amazing foliage. When he turns a corner of the garden he sees Geneva with a younger guy (Channing Tatum). Upon following her he notices an intimate moment. Crushed by this he finds himself in a quandary. Does he tell his best friend that his wife is cheating or look the other way?
Both Vaughn and James do a stellar job of keeping the movie in tune with the plot. Noted for their comical personalities, it is hard to see the two together without laughing, but they accomplish the nearly impossible and turn the film into a heartfelt success. The only problem here is whether the audience will see it that way. Most of the people leaving the theater where I saw the film seem to be at a loss as to what they expected and what they actually saw. For this, word of mouth may not be as great as filmmakers would like.
Mentioning direction and cinematography here would not do anything to increase the film’s value, although Ron Howard does do an amazing job with the
questionable casting of the lead roles in the serious film. That said, Howard uses the comedic chemistry between James and Vaughn in most of the side story involving a company partnership their characters have in getting electric sports cars to sound like the muscle cars of the sixties. Here Vaughn and James are at the top of their game. The comical chemistry between Ronny and Nick gets sidesplitting, especially when they interact with motorcar company person Susan (Queen Latifa).
The Dilemma is rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements involving sexual content. Teens seeing this film however, may find out that it isn’t the comedy they thought they expected. The romantic dating crowd would be the right focus for the marketing of this The Dilemma.
FINAL ANALYSIS: This buddy quandary film has a great premise, but disappointingly miscast. (3.5 of 5)