Trust The Man DVD Review

Trust the Man is a playfully romantic film which is carried by some fantastic performances by the leading actors and a few great supporting surprises as well. Rebecca (Julianne Moore) is a successful actress who isn’t nearly as excited about sex as her husband Tom (David Duchovny). Tom was unsatisfied with his job in marketing and is now a stay-at-home dad, which leaves him far too much time for pornography and flirtations with a single mother at his son’s school. They are comfortable in their routine although it becomes obvious that they might not be giving each other what they need any more. At the same time Rebecca’s slacker brother Tobey (Billy Crudup) refuses to commit to his long-time girlfriend Elaine (Maggie Gyllenhaal). To emphasize Elaine’s need for commitment and a family, she is an aspiring children’s literature novelist.

Because both couples have weathered a great deal of time with each other when the film begins, they are all obviously very comfortable with each other. This dynamic is enhanced by the wonderful comfortable and casual way that both Duchovny and Crudup act around each other and their female companions. They are blunt and often slightly rude and immature, while the two women are easily lost in their own conversation. Within the first few scenes each of the men make use of bodily function, either in action or in discussion, and when the couples go to dinner together they are lectured like children for their language, only to whisper even more rude comments under their breath. They are immature and slightly irritating to the romance, but they are also often hilarious in their portrayal of the husband/boyfriend who has stopped pretending.

Although there are many of the expected turns of a romantic comedy mixed with the somewhat familiar emerging sub-genre of men who will not grow up, but the brilliance of Trust the Man is in the side-by-side issues of two couples and in the differences between the way the men and the women converse with one another. Rebecca and Elaine continue their relationship discussing their lives even after Elaine stops dating Tobey, but Tobey and Tom never really talk about their problems even though they are brothers through marriage, best friends, and both going through difficult times in their love lives. When they finally do talk, the scene takes place in the bathroom as they stand at the urinals relieving themselves. The dialogue for these two characters mixed with some of the best comedic acting I have seen from Crudup and Duchovny adds an element of buddy comedy to the film as well.

The DVD contains both widescreen and full screen version of the film on a double-sided disc. The full screen side contains a making of featurette and the widescreen side has a few deleted scenes with commentary by writer/director Bart Freundlich and David Duchovny. There is also a commentary track with these two, which is a good balance of humor and information.