Man About Town

Man About Town

seeing it on cable. It was not very good. It's not really funny nor is it very entertaining. Ben Affleck is back to making the same boring, bad acting films. Rebecca Romijn still looks good for her age but still has little screen presence. If she wants to act, she should stick to TV roles. Ling Bai was OK, she offers what little humor there is. Also, as for the story, I don't buy that some fairly young, good looking guy with a high powered job would be just OK with his hot wife cheating on him with a client. He wouldn't just take her back. FINAL VERDICT: Just another Ben Affleck disappointment. There's nothing in this film really worth watching.

This is the Ben Affleck that I like. He's the average man. When asked if he completed college in one scene, he replies 'Community College, two years.' Of course, he's fantastically rich - not bad for a guy from Community College, and all of this in the dog-eat-dog world of the L.A. entertainment industry. This is the Ben Afflect I like! He's handsome, yes. He's got a gorgeous wife (who cheated on him) and a Dad who is loopy (from having had a stroke) and clients who threaten to leave him and do and people who try to blackmail him. He's just juggling all the balls, dealing with it all one crisis at a time. A lot of what he does is contradictory. The movie is often narrated with entries in his journal. He thinks that he has lost his nerve and his drive. Yet the first thing that he does in the movie is toss his wife out of the house for her infidelity. Without a moment's hesitation. This is what Ben Afflect does really well in a movie: he plays a character who has ambition but a humble background. He contradicts himself by acting contrary to his beliefs, he attempts to redeem himself. And all the while, the audience can see the machinations of his very average brain trying to makes sense of it all. Because he's basically charming and has screen presence and yes, acting ability, you sort of think along with him and find that you are having a hard time making sense of it too! But aside from the average intelligence trying to solve a difficult question, there's a lot of emotion, too, and his average brain can't decide whether that is a help or a hindrance. I thought the movie was entertaining, a little slow in parts, surprisingly funny (I laughed out loud several times which hardly makes it a great comedy but it kept me watching!) Rebecca Romijn doesn't have to do much in a picture but look gorgeous. She acted well but her beauty actually gets in the way - it's distracting. Ben made a similar movie with Gwyneth Paltrow - 'Bounce' that I have watched several times and each time, I think it gets better with the re-watching.

First of all I am sorry for my poor English, I just want to say that the moral of this movie is just wrong, I would say stupid, the wife betrays her husband and he "cuckold" forgives her easily... No way, this is not real, so what is the moral then, I could not understand, I like Ben Affleck and enjoyed some parts of the movie where he says about his family and his father, these parts are good and makes people to think, moreover the movie is full of funny stories, however, the main idea and subject is totally wrong and this movie may cause some wives to betray their husbands, thinking their husbands will forgive them?! This movie can destroy normal families, I would not recommend to see it, it may mislead one, These are my opinion and I would glad to have any comments from you, my e-mail is: murod2000@yahoo.com sorry if I said something wrong and wish you and your families all the best... Best regards, Murodkhon

Sometimes the business world makes your love frozen. In a society where the prestige and the money seems to be more important than relationships, "trust" becomes just another word of the dictionary. Stress takes the control of your life; and without warning you stop living, to start acting in automatic pilot. And that is the case of Jack Giamoro (Ben Affleck) a well recognized and very successful executive in the Hollywood industry; who in his routine tries to find safety in isolating himself. His ammo ironically turns into his wickedness when everything starts falling apart, and he decides to write his personal diary. His life, his pain, his loneliness and secrets in paper, put him in danger when someone steals his written memories. A good romantic comedy, with the excellent performance of John "the actor" Cleese and the always beautiful Rebecca Romijn. It makes you laugh, it makes you fall in love, it makes you stop and look around. What's important in life? I say: A great choice for a date.

As an actor Mike Binder isn't much. But at a director he rides the crest of sappiness and uses only what he can borrow from the well of older movies. I've never seen a writer-director so incapable of coming up with something new. At best he's a mediocre TV director. "Man about Town" is about a guy who works too much and eventually learns that he needs to spend time with his family. Woo, there's a plot. Affleck, normally decent, sleepwalks through the role. Romjin, normally hot and exciting, is listless and dull. The rest of the cast are throwaways (except Hesse, who could have had more screen time).. But it's the story - or lack thereof - that makes this a waste. There's no real explanation of anyone's motives and you never really find anything out. The story builds to various climaxes which are suddenly diffused in order to continue towards the end - as if the director was ready to resolve something but needed more time. Nasty violence happens out of the blue and out of character. The point seems to be to get Affleck to realize that he loves his wife and can forgive her adultery. Along the way comic relief is offered grade-B 1950s style: people standing in corners have doors slammed in their faces; phone conversations happen where A is talking to B but C thinks A is talking to him so; characters yell and posture about things that come into their heads separate from any storyline ...... Presumably Binder had a sense of all this and so resorts to the laziest trick: it's narrated throughout. You can't follow it anyway but if you fast-forward (as you want to) you lose any possible sense of continuity that the worthless narration (Affleck reading his journal) might give. All in all, a complete waste of time: no laughs, no love, no drama, no eurekas. Nada.

This movie was advertised as a romantic comedy, but there was no romance and no comedy. All I saw was a boring story about a horrible person, a talent agent, whom I found myself rooting against. Talent agents are, in general, not likable characters. So why did the director think we'd enjoy spending a few hours with one, even if he's played by Ben Affleck? The nepotism and shallow nature of Hollywood seem to be accurately portrayed in this movie. Behind the red carpet glamour of the movie industry lies a dirty business totally lacking any morals or ethical standard. But this was well documented in "The Player" and doesn't need to be repeated. I couldn't bring myself to care about Affleck's character, and thus didn't get emotionally involved with this movie.

My expectations for this movie were pretty low. Ben Affleck's resume is very much hit and miss, with the misses being sometimes being of epic proportion. As well, I had seen two recent movies by director Mike Bender (Upside of Anger and Reign over Me) which certainly did not live up to praises and high ratings they received. It was thus with skepticism that I decided to kill time watching Man About Town, expecting a total dud. I was proved wrong. Much like its successor Reign Over Me, the main character here is going through issues and everything is rather organic and poignantly directed, contrary to the usual remote third person view employed in "safer" Hollywood work. There are some light comedic moments here but what makes them work is how human and heartfelt the struggles are depicted. And while Ben Affleck will never be the second coming of a Ed Norton or Anthony Hopkins, here he gives a very honest and balanced performance and we cannot help but sympathize with this character caught in the artificial life of Los Angeles and talent agencies. If anything, one plot tread about his book takes perhaps too much importance in what is otherwise a sober treatment of character and the issues he has to deal with in his personal and professional life. The entire cast is extremely good and was well chosen, although it does feel like they could have done more with John Cleese. One exception: I really felt Bai Ling was off in her performance. Overall, this is a very enjoyable movie with a satisfying conclusion instead of the usual eye-rolling fest with the easy way out.

Stress and Success: I believe that "Man About Town" gets to the soul of work-life balance in a surprising way. A head review on IMDb compares it to American Beauty -- I think this makes it too heavy and the themes too weighty -- it is Jersey Girl with grown-ups - has farce, charm, and truly poignant scenes, as well as a man who as his life goes down the toilet makes his soul play and work for him. Is it about the material waste vs. romance? : well, no not really; a modern parable of values; a little; an Italian drama with American values played out like a french comedy romance: definitely. There is a strong cast: A pythonesque cameo breaks up the story into segments. Howard Hesseman as the father is a better role than expected: and he delivers a class performance. A face I hadn't noticed before, Damien Wayans, (well according to IMDb his previous credits include "cousin carrying plastic bag" in Don't be a Menace to South Central while Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, 'nuff said...) here he handles the foil of Ben Affleck's necessarily flack-like performance with real aplomb as the put-upon PA. He has behind the fluff a serious look that would lend well to comedy and/or drama. Bet we'll see more of him. The treatment lends to being real handled with verve and vigor: covering the gamut from farce to bathos - and for my money hit a surprising number of home runs. Ben Affleck - a man driven to the point of desperation, and reconnection gives a deceptively light performance: I would have to say they are some awesome skills going into this - sometime he makes it look too easy, too, what's the word, smiley ?, but it is nicely played. It is his most mature role to date and he handles this tale of a man discovering his true values and maturity with a measured casualness. On filming: I found the approach to filming itself more complex than I expected the lighting and sound are both clever and discrete; and it is well lit. Obviously style and architecture and the LA dream are nicely displayed: great design. The office really looks right, down to the door handles. The editing makes good sense and keeps the pace in a natural story that jumps pace and genre : and there are some shots with lifts that are unique (!) and worth checking out for that reason alone. It is funny particularly good on the visual jokes, but not overly crude, but It also moved me to tears four times - no mean feat - and my wife even more. Mike Binder, who both wrote and directed this, is getting really close to having a real hit - I sense a director ready to take on a big star, and big themes and fly with them. Overall, I enjoyed this tremendously and would say: more like it please. It is kind of familiar territory and many critics will point to it as too mixed up to be clear: but I would argue that the theme of redemption is clearer than the lax comic relief that occasionally surfaces -- and the silliness is light relief and flows out of the plot. This film about a film executive who caught the success train early and now feels the baggage carriage rocketing up fast could itself be difficult to categorize as comedy romance drama etc; and that may be a weakness in marketing, but it is a strength in the telling: I found it a very rounded experience. Who wouldn't want to find films that touch the soul and here we have. Worth the rental (And a release - This should be a release with real marketing values - right?) -- yup and how.

Caught this during Showtime's free-view as the first of what (I hope) was an unintentional Ben Affleck Marathon, as this stinker was followed by another stinker (The Third Wheel), then one more stinker for sh*ts and giggles (Reindeer Games). Why a Lifetime Razzie has so far eluded Benny's talentless clutches is beyond me! As one of the posters said, just when you think he can't sink any lower, he does! You think Jack A-Hole would have figured out what his minions REALLY think of him when they haul him to that dentist! Au contraire! After beating the crap out of the guy who beat the crap out of him, he goes back to the SAME DENTIST when he should be hauling the clown into court for making him look like Tom Cruise's retarded cousin! And some people wonder why this turkey was shelved for 2 years! The female characters are even more loathsome than the male characters: Barbi is a Dragon Lady racist cliché; Mrs. Jack A-Hole is a brainless Trophy Wife; and the less said about the Sharon Stone wanna-be, the better. At the climax of this masterpiece, Trophy Wife and Dragon Lady duke it out over Jack A-Hole's precious journal in one room, the Sharon Stone wanna-be crosses and uncrosses her legs in another room, and Jack A-Hole's Top Client (over whom he kicked Trophy Wife out of the house) drops in to beg forgiveness. That whirring sound you hear is Preston Sturges spinning in his grave! So who winds up running Jack A-Hole's agency after he and Trophy Wife kiss and make up in his fish tank (I kid you not)? The token lesbian, who has more cojones in her pinkie than all the men in the movie put together!