The Ex Unrated Widescreen Edition

Product Description Tom Reilly (Braff) and his wife Sofia (Peet) are in for some major changes now that they have a newborn. As a lawyer, Sofia has always provided a comfortable living while Tom has contributed love, support and the occasional paycheck. When Sofia decides to be a stay-at-home mom all that changes. Tom moves the family to Ohio to work for his father-in-law (Grodin). His boss, Chip (Bateman), happens to still carry a torch for Sofia from their high school days. Chip will stop at nothing to see Tom defeated while no one but Tom can see Chip for the evil genius he is. Through it all Tom's esteem is depleted, his manhood challenged (by a surprisingly large adversary) and he's watching his family slip away. Amazon.com When a movie sits on the shelf for a year, the consensus is that it must be a dud. Formerly known as Fast Track, Jesse Peretz's third and most commercial feature may not be a dud, but it comes perilously close. With the success of Garden State, it was inevitable that The Ex would be marketed as a romantic comedy, except it isn't. Sure, there's romance between Tom (Zach Braff) and his pregnant wife, Sofia (Amanda Peet, Igby Goes Down), but this is mostly a black comedy about the ad game, like How To Get Ahead in Advertising. After their baby is born, Sofia puts her legal career on hold to care for little Oliver, but then Tom loses his job as chef (Paul Rudd cameos as his boss), so they move from New York to Ohio where her father, Bob (Charles Grodin in fine fettle), secures Tom a gig as assistant associate creative at his New Age-style ad agency. Their money woes are a thing of the past, but new problems await. The biggest is creative director Chip (Jason Bateman), who briefly dated Sofia in high school. A longtime wheelchair user, Chip resents Tom for stealing his limelight--and for his relationship with Sofia. So, he sets out to turn everyone against his competition (their co-workers include SNL's Fred Armisen and Amy Poehler). Because Chip has such a genial manner, Tom's complaints strike others as unjustified paranoia. By the time he figures out a way to pay Chip back, it's hard to care after all the pratfalls and bits of funny business that fall flat more often than not. There are worse ways to spend 89 minutes, but any random episode of Scrubs or Arrested Development offers more laughs. --Kathleen C. Fennessy