Just perfect...

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

It seems that wit and charm are the two things that make a good romantic comedy. Mr. Jealousy possesses these two things but doesn't always use them to its advantage. The movie is Lester Grimm, played by Eric Stoltz, who has had a jealousy problem ever since he started dating. This becomes a much bigger issue when he falls in love with Ramona, a girl who has been with an abundance of other men before Lester. One of these other men is author Dashiell Frank. Concerned that that Ramona may still have feelings for Dashiell, Lester starts going to group therapy sessions with him to find out the secrets he feels are being kept from him. This creates an amusing amount of clever situations that are all humorously brought about by Lester's own jealousy.This is one of those films that isn't very consistent in its quality, but if you stick with it, everything will be worth it in the end. The movie starts off fairly shallow and cliché. We meet our protagonist, Lester, and learn about his past dating experiences. We learn things that aren't surprising and are to be expected from this kind of film. Lester's not a hunk, but he's not a loser either. He's just a typical guy who has gone through pretty typical things. After a brief history of his character we meet the supporting cast, including Lester's girlfriend Ramona. Things develop in a typical manner and the film tries a little too hard to be a quirky comedy. There are specific cuts and quirky editing techniques all placed throughout for comedic effect, but not to much avail. It's amusing, but nothing special.The film really starts to get good when the plot thickens and the growing situation comedy aspect starts to bloom into something very entertaining. It starts with the group therapy sessions, which become the backbone of the story's progression, and the way these situations unfold are very entertaining. I think somewhere along the line Noah Baumbach, writer and director, realized that the comedy of this film comes from the clever wit the story's progression bares, rather than a bunch of sporadically placed and forced jokes. Towards the middle of the film I stopped regretting watching this movie and actually became engaged. The film also realized that the quirky style it had tried so desperately to make work in the beginning hadn't really gone anywhere, so it abandoned that and things greatly improved.And luckily the ending of the film doesn't disappoint. It doesn't wow you and it isn't terribly unexpected. It isn't the typical idealized romantic comedy ending. It is more realistic and bittersweet. When you break it down you can find some areas for improvement and I'm not saying the ending is perfect. But it fits and it isn't disappointing. It is basically what you would expect. It meets the same tone that most of the film has had, wrapping up the story nicely and making Mr. Jealousy a worthwhile watch.I didn't expect much from this film, and I after I started watching it I really felt like this was going to be an hour and forty minutes I would never get back. But as things move along the film gets much better. It isn't laugh out loud funny, but it is amusing and it is clever. Mr. Jealousy is nothing special, but it isn't a bad movie at all. It is a film that enjoys itself, with likable characters and very entertaining situations. I wouldn't watch it again, but I have no regrets.

"Mr. Jealousy" is a somewhat tedious heavily narrated Woody Allen-esque intellectual musing of relationship issues, specifically jealousy, with a NYC Gen-X milieu. A romantic-comedy tale of a tentative Stoltz's affair with a too experienced Sciorra, this emotionally sterile and somewhat heady flick is not likely to evoke more than an occasional chuckle nor milk a single tear nor give anyone the warm and fuzzies. Okay stuff for those into microscopic examinations of relationships though not likely to have broad appeal. (C+)

A film about relations; you may think: Oh no not an another one, not a Woody Allen remake. Wrong, this is a screwball comedy like the films with Cary Grant en Katherine Hepburn. Makes group therapy slightly ridiculous. Stoltz is great as the jealous lover, obsessed with the past of his present girlfriend.

A film (intended to be charming) about one thirtysomething yuppie's obsessive jealousy and its detrimental effects on all his relationships, especially his most recent one. A modern-day fairy tale as viewed through the prism of pyschotherapy and overexamined melodramatic tendencies of 1990s New York singles.The film begins with an interesting premise (joining someone's group therapy in order to dig up dirt on the promiscuity of your current girlfriend) but it's long, slow-moving and a little lazy. A few of the plot diversions (one involving Bridget Fonda as a girl with a stutter) feel like directorial in-jokes.Eric Stoltz and Annabella Sciorra are great individually but the chemistry is lacking. Chris Eigeman is believable as a pretentious "voice of his generation" writer and fans of his should rent this film to admire some of his more subtly hilarious moments (one involving a hit Cat Stevens song).Overall not as charming or as naturally sweet and thought-provoking as Baumbach's Kicking and Screaming.