'My Super Ex-Girlfriend' takes you on a super-stupid ride

Friday, July 21, 2006

There was a time when Ivan Reitman was the man with the golden touch in Hollywood comedy, and his films stand as landmarks in the careers of Bill Murray ("Ghostbusters"), Arnold Schwarzenegger ("Twins"), Robert Redford ("Legal Eagles") and Kevin Kline ("Dave").

MOVIE REVIEW

MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND

DIRECTOR: Ivan Reitman

CAST: Uma Thurman, Luke Wilson, Anna Faris, Eddie Izzard, Rainn Wilson

RUNNING TIME: 95 minutes

RATING: PG-13 for continuous crude and sexual humor, including language

GRADE: C-

LINKS/TRAILERS
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But he seemed to lose that touch in the '90s, and after the failure of "Father's Day" (1997), "Six Days Seven Nights" (1998) and "Evolution" (2001), he took a six-year hiatus from directing and turned his attention to full-time producing.

And, sad to say, that knack has not returned to him in "My Super Ex-Girlfriend," an unimaginative special-effects comedy that has been widely billed as his comeback vehicle. It's not terrible, but it's mediocre and not much more than a string of cheesy sex gags.

It's the story of a nerdy Manhattan graphic designer (Luke Wilson) who starts dating a pretty but eccentric young art-gallery clerk only to discover that she's secretly G-Girl, a superhero with roughly the same powers as Superman.

She quickly wears him out sexually, he's actually in love with someone else anyway, and he soon tries to gently break off the affair.

But the jealous and controlling G-Girl goes ballistic, and spends the rest of the movie making life miserable for him.

She uses her X-ray eyes to brand the word "Dick" on his forehead, she uses super-breath to strip him nude in the midst of an important business presentation, she throws a great white shark snapping at his genitals in the midst of an assignation. That sort of thing.

On paper, this must have all seemed hilarious. But the script is all concept, and its situations are witless and predictable. It's also not much of a star vehicle: neither the terminally bland Wilson nor Thurman can get anything going, individually or as a team.

It's supposed to be a romantic comedy, but since -- after the first act -- he can't stand her and only wants to get away from her, and since she is essentially a super-stalker, there's zero romantic juice to it. The audience doesn't WANT them to get together.

Beyond this, the movie has little of the originality, wacky flair, sparkling supporting characters or unexpected show of heart that distinguishes the best Reitman comedies of the '80s and early '90s.

It's a very weak showing from a filmmaker who can do better.

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