Trust the Man (15) <!-- none onestar twostar threestar fourstar fivestar -->

Reviewed,Anthony Quinn
Friday 22 September 2006 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

A whole different kind of terrible, Bart Freundlich's romantic comedy seems to distil the very essence of unfunniness. It focuses on two New York couples undergoing some heavy weather in their relationships. Julianne Moore is a stage actress married to David Duchovny, an ex-adman-turned-house husband whose need for sex leads him into an affair, while aspiring writer Maggie Gyllenhaal dreams of a big family but can't get layabout boyfriend Billy Crudup to commit.

Even accepting a generic level of NY self-absorption, the experience of listening to these people discuss their pseudo-anxieties and non-problems with each other or in therapy is insufferable. All that kept me going was a galvanising hatred of Billy Crudup's oafish slacker, his goatee beard, his unamusing repartee and his smug self-regard all locked in a contest to be the most annoying thing about him. The comedy finale at Julianne Moore's opening night almost vanquishes Richard Curtis for shameless emotional grandstanding.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in