‘Dramedy’ disappoints with poor screenplay, bad acting
“How well do you know a person?”
That is one of the opening lines in “The Dilemma.” To answer the question regarding Ron Howard, I guess you really can’t.
The child actor who grew to become an Oscar-winning director has made such an even amount of successes and disappointments that it’s hard to tell whether his work will be superb or subpar. This one is surely the latter. Ron Howard’s first comedic film in 11 years (the last being How the Grinch Stole Christmas) establishes itself as a disastrous attempt to take on a dark subject in a comedic fashion. Previews revealed that “The Dilemma” showed no promise, but it also unexpectedly contained a more serious tone than anticipated. It’s hard to take a film like this seriously when it tries so hard to find humor in the subject of infidelity.
Vince Vaughn and Kevin James star as Ronny Valentine and Nick Brannen, partners in an auto-engineering business who are similar to a Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble buddy couple. They have been best friends since college and are both in near-perfect relationships, or so they think. Ronny discovers that Nick’s wife (Winona Ryder) is having an affair with a sensitive stud (Channing Tatum). Upon learning this, Ronny struggles with how he is going to tell Nick about the affair or if he even can.
From this point on, the following questions ensue: How well do you know someone? Can people be trusted? Is honesty an important value in a relationship? The answers are not well at all, no, and maybe.
“The Dilemma” possesses an interesting premise about honesty and trust. However, I couldn’t help but feel confused about how the director presents it.
Did Ron Howard mean for this film to be a simple buddy comedy or is it a dramedy (drama-comedy) about marital dysfunction? It seems to have elements of both. It also shows elements of a romantic comedy as it provides insight into the developing relationship between Ronny and Beth, his wife (Jennifer Connelly).
Vince Vaughn just can’t suppress the aggressively charming persona he has portrayed since “Swingers” in 1996. In addition, he has been on a pretty bad streak in comedic films ever since “The Break-Up” (2006). Kevin James is in the same boat as Vaughn since the only watchable film he’s been in was “Hitch” (2005). The chemistry between these two comedians was lacking since James was futile in his attempt to keep up with Vaughn. Also, there’s Channing Tatum, who has been nothing more than a living mannequin so far in his acting career.
The worst attribute of this film was the surprisingly disappointing blend of cheap, slapstick and dark comedy. For some reason, Ron Howard thought that adding some pointless flashbacks would help the film. They’re not just pointless comedy-wise but pointless for the entire film. Even more meaningless was adding Queen Latifah to the cast when her character really serves no purpose for the film’s narrative. Also, the fact that the film’s funniest jokes were aired in its previews made “The Dilemma” so devoid of laughs that even Queen Latifah’s sexually driven gags about “ladywood” can’t save the film.
Despite its fairly likeable cast, “The Dilemma” contains so much confusion and insignificance that it is not even worth the controversy behind the “gay” joke from the very first trailer. The real dilemma is this: why Ron Howard would even waste his time on such lackluster humor and a tasteless screenplay?