blanche-2 I'm not really sure why I had this film on my Netflix list, except that I like David Duchovny and Julianne Moore. They can and have done much better than this.Duchovny and Moore play Tom and Rebecca Pollack - he's a house husband, having just quit advertising, and she's a well-known actress rehearsing a play in New York. Her brother Tobey (Billy Crudup) is in a long-term relationship with a fledgling writer Elaine (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and they're all best friends.Tom wants sex more than Rebecca does; Elaine wants to get married and have a baby, but Tobey doesn't seem ready. He seems overly concerned with the fact that they're all going to die someday.Tom drifts into a relationship with a divorced mother of one of his son's friends, and Tobey and Elaine finally break up. The movie concerns them all trying to find their way back to one another. I found it pretty dismal.There are some good scenes, two in particular: the beginning of a romantic evening when Rebecca, on her last night of eating carbohydrates, stuffs a huge piece of cake down her throat; and Tom's confessions, true and not true, to a sex addicts group. Both very good.There are several cameos in the film, one by Garry Shandling and one by Ellen Barkin, as well as some recognizable New York actors. The New York location shots are all great, some taking place in my old neighborhood.This is a good cast stuck with a weak script and shallow characters. They do the best they can, but it's an uneasy mix of drama and comedy. The ending is lame. Disappointing.

Chrysanthepop Bart Freundlich's 'Trust The Man' reminded me of those quirky and whimsical Woody Allen films about adult relationships. However, this film lacked the whimsical quality of Allen's films and where Allen's films are rather subtle, 'Trust the Man' has a few sequences that were over the top. The worst of which is the climax scene surrounding the Tobey-Elaine storyline.Yet, 'Trust the Man' is still a likable effort. The dynamics of the two relationships and friendships are interesting and the interactions are both amusing and intense to watch. The performances stand out. David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Billy Crudup and Maggie Gyllenhaal are terrific in their respective roles. Gary Shandling and Ellen Barkin in hilarious in their one scene. Justin Bartha, James Le Gros, Eva Mendes and sensual Dagmara Dominczyk are great in their three scenes.It is easy to tell that the cast and maybe the crew had a lot of fun when making the film. Most of the comedic sequences and the dialogues (except for the few over the top ones as mentioned above) work well as they made me laugh. I did not mind the in your face jokes either.Nest to a few over the top jokes 'Trust the Man's main problem is the writing. the problems that the characters don't seem to be well-etched and they appear rather one-dimensional and convenient for the sake of creating a plotpoint. Many of the actions of the characters feel out of place or forced, like Tom engaging in an extra marital affair when he clearly loves his wife or Tobey following his therapist.As flawed as it might be, I, overall, enjoyed watching it because of the performances and humour.

jpschapira This is the first Bart Freundlich film I've seen. Apparently, all of his films revolve around family and love relationships, so the man must know something. Could it be difficult being married to Julianne Moore? Freundlich is, and his "Trust the man" has Moore in a starring role, as Rebecca, a famous film actress who's married and has two children; Moore plays the part brilliantly and she doesn't seem to be playing herself.The other starring roles include Billy Crudup as Tobey; Rebecca's brother, whose best friend is Tom (David Duchovny); Rebecca's husband, and is the boyfriend of Elaine (Maggie Gyllenhaal); Rebecca's very good friend. It's not that everything in the film is about Rebecca, I could have constructed the relationships departing from any other character, but the one played by Moore seemed logical to establish a real life connection.It would be pretty fair to say that nothing really important happens in "Trust the man", which makes it even harder for me to recommend it as the good movie it is. Writer/director Freundlich takes a risk at showing us that 'slice of life' I love so much, and that's undoubtedly where the film works best. He has such an ear for relationship problems and also a very good eye for putting them on screen.Among the many things that we experience in "Trust the man", some short but insightful conversations can be pointed out: a visit that Rebecca and Tom make to the psychologist (a short appearance by Garry Shandling), a meeting Elaine has with the director of the publisher (a short appearance by Ellen Barkin) she's hoping will publish her children's book, the short visits that Tobey makes to his shrink (the infallible and uncredited Bob Balaban), and one discussion Elaine and Tobey have-or any of their discussions, for that matter-that the rest of the guests at Rebecca's house overhear in the table.My friend Alejo tells me he reads scripts often. Well, he should read this one, because it's brilliant. All the parts I mentioned are little moments during which reality is overwhelming and we can't believe our ears as we admire Freundlich's incredible perception. Not so often it happens to me that I'm blinded by the script of a romantic comedy, because "Trust the man" belongs to that genre in an uncommon way and it's also, luckily, funny.The chemistry of the actors here is also more important than in any ordinary romantic comedy. They're playing human beings involved in long-term relationships and it's vital that we feel the connection they have after such a long time. Elaine and Tobey have been together for seven years; and we really believe the immaturity transmitted by Crudup's wonderful portrayal and the innocence and deception that the wonderful and beautiful Gyllenhaal makes us feel. Duchovny, a genius when doing comedy, is inspired as ever and shows us that moment of life that's not a turning point but it's a crisis, and a tough one; and about Moore I already told you.The problem (and it's not a small one) in "Trust the man" comes when Freundlich wants to get away from the ordinary and become extraordinary; in the film. In the genre, this means doing the typical thing; so after we've had such a good time with twists that haven't been important or forced, the resolution comes as a big disappointment…As if Freundlich chickened out and took the easy way out.But trust this man on this one: this resolution will still get a smile out of your face (more likely if you're a fan of the genre like me) and it won't make the ride any worse. "Trust the man" is a keeper; a rare piece in its genre that will hopefully achieve its reflections stay with you for a while.

johnnyrj First of all this movie is brilliant and funny as hell. How funny is hell? Really funny when you consider that it doesn't exist yet everyone lives in fear of it anyway. What makes this movie brilliant is that J. Moore didn't ruin it. It's unfortunate that you never really know which J. Moore you are going to get in any given movie because the level of annoyance she may bring to the screen is a crapshoot. Sometimes she makes you quit watching whichever movie she may be starring in because her character, combined with her annoying, desperate, whiny job of acting overshadows everything else happening on the screen. Other times you can actually stand her, which is when there are other very gifted actors in the same scenes with her. For the love of Pete just don't leave her alone and let her start getting all sentimental or blubbery otherwise I'm changing the channel or movie. Having said all that, she's actually pretty good in this movie despite the few moments where she has a cry or gets upset. Duchovny and Crudup are nothing short of the dynamic duo in this film, feeding off of each other all the while making you laugh, and laugh genuinely hard. Gyllenhaal is okay, but I noticed some moments where she was supposed to react to a situation, and just threw too much emotion at it making it look contrived and annoying.The end of the movie in the theater is also kind of "whatever", but we get fed exactly what we wanted to eat from the proverbial Hollywood banquet of happy endings. For some reason I was expecting either Moore or Gyllenhaal to get hit by a car during their perspective 'crossing the street' scenes...Funny and real movie as well as being really funny.