My Super Ex-Girlfriend

© 2006 Ray Wong



The Hollywood playing field is littered with superheroes. While Wolverine and Superman duke it out for the title of the "Coolest Guy-in-Tights," G-Girl of My Super Ex-Girlfiend sneaks up on them to claim "The Nuttiest, Campiest Anti-Hero" of the summer.

Matt Saunders (Wilson) is an average nice guy working at design firm. Despite his good-natureness, he seems to always attract mentally-unstable women. When he meets a sexy gallery curator, Jenny Johnson (Thurman), a short fling turns into a steady relationship, even though Matt's intuition tells him that Jenny is another total nut-job.

Little does Matt know that Jenny is the alter-ego of the superhero, G-Girl. While G-Girl is very good at saving the day for everyone else, Jenny can't save herself from being needy, jealous, and neurotic about her relationship with Matt. When Matt discovers that Jenny is G-Girl, the initial excitement quickly wears off as Jenny becomes suspicious of Matt's feelings for his colleague, Hannah (Faris). Matt decides to break up with Jenny, but G-Girl promises that he will be "very, very sorry."

Thurman (The Producers) is deliciously wacky as Jenny/G-Girl. Obviously gorgeous, Thurman has great comic timing and handles the dual natures (heroic vs. needy, confident vs. vulnerable, mean vs. sweet) of the character with flair. She seems to have as much fun as Johnny Depp did playing Captain Jack Sparrow in that little pirate movie. Luke Wilson (The Family Stone) is charming as the straight man. Slightly pudgy, Wilson exudes certain awkwardness and naiveté that make his character very likable.

Rainn Wilson (The Office) is the go-to guy to play Matt's weird and nerdy friend Vaughn. His brand of off-kilters serves the role well. Faris (Brokeback Mountain) is delightfully sweet as the object of Matt's affection. Sykes (Monster In-Law) has a small and unnecessary role as Matt's boss -- her part could be cut out completely and nothing would have been lost. Izzard (Ocean's Twelve), on the other hand, is a standout in his minor role as super-villain Professor Bedlam. His underplayed yet flamboyant characterization is hilarious.

Writer Payne is best known for this TV credits such as The Simpsons and Men Behaving Badly. The script, however, is sophomoric and obvious. From the very first scene, everything is explained and spelled out for the audience. There's really no subtlety or suspense. The plot is ridiculous and predictable. The dialogue is trite and silly. Relatively fast-paced, the story drags in places and could have used some cutting.

Surprisingly, despite all the flaws, the film works as a comedy. The ridiculous plot and the silly characters are very entertaining. There are many laugh-out-loud moments and at times, I find myself giggling like a school girl. The characters are very interesting and so is the story, and the actors have great chemistry with each other. Director Reitman (Six Days Seven Nights) is smart to maintain a tongue-in-cheek fluffiness throughout the film. When the filmmakers don't take themselves too seriously, the audiences are allowed to sit back, relax, and have a super good time.

Stars: Uma Thurman, Luke Wilson, Anna Faris, Rainn Wilson, Eddie Izzard, Wanda Sykes
Director: Ivan Reitman
Writer: Don Payne
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, brief nudity, crude humor and language
Running Time: 95 minutes

Ratings:

Script – 6
Performance – 7
Direction – 7
Cinematography – 7
Music/Sound– 7
Editing – 6
Production – 7

Total – 6.8 out of 10