The Ex DVD Review

Family life is often painfully funny. We laugh at the terrorizing twins on Desperate Housewives because we are glad that we are not the parents and grimace at the discussions of marriage in Knocked Up because nearly all of us can relate. These are the two most popular ways to use humor in regards to family life; either by showing situations so difficult that we are glad not to have the same situation or situations easily relatable and humorous because of it. The Ex has plenty of situations that are relatable, but the problem is that the filmmakers have little sensitivity in handling these situations and inevitably end up making the viewing experience far more grueling than it could have been. It is clear that the lifestyle attempted by the newly formed family at the center of the film is looked down on, so as things go wrong there is far too much malice in the presentation, and the obvious solution presented at the resolution would have you believe that the only way to be happy is by refusing to sell out.

Zach Braff stars as a new husband in New York married to a beautiful wife (Amanda Peet), who is soon to expect a baby as well. The only problem is that he can’t seem to hold down a job because of his inability to allow bosses to treat him or his coworkers unfairly. This is represented in the most absurd manner, although with a fantastic cameo by Paul Rudd, as his latest job as a chef is ruined with a food fight in the kitchen. When the baby comes into a family without a job they decide to move back to Ohio to start fresh next to his in-laws. These uncomfortable comedies in which everything goes wrong always begin this way and immediately go sour, and The Ex is no exception when the new job is working underneath and ex-boyfriend of his wife. The ex, played by Jason Bateman, is also handicapped which allows for several more inappropriately uncomfortable situations.

These films are clearly about uncomfortable situations and in the new-age marketing company that he begins working in there are several opportunities for this, but the truly uncomfortable situations come from the family life. Dealing with the hardships of being a stay-at-home mom as well as the sacrifices a father must make to provide for his kids, The Ex is nearly a claustrophobic look at settling down and likely to cause any single man to run away as fast as he can. One thing is for certain; The Ex is one of the worst date movies to come out in some while, similar to Knocked Up in presentation and nowhere near as true and enjoyable.

The DVD includes some deleted scenes, which aren’t all that great, alternate endings to show that the emphasis was more on the uncomfortable than the resolution during filming, and a blooper reel, which some of the talented actors who made the mistake of this film actually make more enjoyable than the movie.