Beautiful, moving film.

A Masterpiece!

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Elliott (Michael Showalter, who also wrote and directed this nice film) is at the altar when suddenly chaos erupts. His bride, Caroline (Elizabeth Banks) has turned away from him to meet a gentleman, Bradley (Justin Theroux) who has "not held his peace". How has this happened? Well, Elliott gives us a backwards peak into the years leading up to this catastrophe. First, E has had the unfortunate luck to always be a "Baxter". This is a pejorative term describing a man or woman who is always a boyfriend/girlfriend's second choice. When you can't be with the one you love, you settle for a Baxter. Poor Elliot. However, in his life story, the viewer can clearly see that there has been one lady of his acquaintance who probably likes him very much. That would be Cecil Mills (Michelle Williams) who temped for E one day when his secretary was ill. As these two were just beginning a conversation about mutual interests, in waltzed the more flashy Caroline, needing accounting advice. So, Elliot gave Cecil short shrift and placed his more eager attention on Caro. Alas, Carrie is interested in E more in the abstract, having had her heart broken by Bradley. In the year before the wedding, Elliott and Cecil would meet again, but it seems E can never see the good thing in front of him and favors the more snooty and financially successful C. But, wait, as E is ultimately jilted, will Cecil still be around when E comes to his senses? This is a very fine film that will please fans of comedy and romance. Showalter is not star-handsome but as the writer-director-leading man of this small gem, one has to hold him in admiration. Banks, Theroux, Peter Dinklage, Zak Orth, Paul Rudd and, most especially, Williams back him up him very well. In fact, Williams steals the show once again as the sweet but non-assertive Cecil. She sings, too! One will also enjoy the Manhattan setting, the great costumes and the other film amenities. Therefore, if your are in search of a new film to give you a bit of rest and relaxation, The Baxter fits the bill.

This film is about a man who is unlucky in love due to his rigid ways. He learns to break his bad luck by breaking his behavioural pattern."The Baxter" is actually an interesting look at this accountant who is rather unlucky with ladies. His character is interesting, as he is not particularly likable, but he radiates a mischievous charm. "The Baxter" is an unconventional romantic comedy, it is a little dark but it is quite funny at the same time. I particularly found the argument in flat scene and the date in hamburger joint scene funny.For some unknown reason, I find "The Baxter" having an ability to stretch time. I thought I have watched at least an hour when in fact I watched only 30 minutes. Maybe it's the dialog heavy script, or the lack of spacing scenes, or the lack of lighthearted bubbly scenes to sooth the atmosphere. I am not saying it is boring or bad, because it is not.

I will never give a movie a 10 except my favorite movie of all time, and for that one I won't cast my vote until my final year of life (and so I really hope that I don't get hit by a truck or something before I have a chance to do that! I mean, I'm kind of assuming that I'll know when I'm about to meet my demise so that I'll have a chance to enter my comments here on IMDb!). (Well, actually, I'll probably forget this decree way before then and I'll give some movie or other a 10 and it won't be this excellent film and it won't be that one-and-only most favorite movie of my life, and so the occurrence of my 10-posting will diminish my overall credibility; but I enter these comments knowingly.)So, about this movie. What do you look for in a movie? I know people that just look for escape. They want something that's going to take them away from the world. Then there are those that are looking for entertainment. They just want to laugh, and, well, I guess there's a certain escape factor there as well. And then there are those that look for themselves, or look for some kind of explanation of it all in the cinema. Will you find any of those here? YES!!! You'll find all of them here! This is a great movie! I mean, it's a great sort of high B movie, maybe a great B+ movie, or, god, I'm nervous and sweating, maybe, OK, maybe an A- movie. OK, this is really a great, fun, honest, stupid, silly, funny, realistic, embarrassing, revealing showcase of a fine American film. There's nothing that Truffault or Fellini made that's better than this; we all are just so enamoured of black and white that we think those are all better. ***Possible spoiler here*** (but I won't give it all away, I promise!). At the 55 minute mark, pay attention. This is such a great moment, it's sort of the denouement of the film. It's where they're all (and you'll have to actually see the film to understand who is included in this "all") sitting in this bar and a miraculous turn of events takes place. Is it ridiculous and preposterous? Yes! But has it happened in real life! Well, all I can say is: it's happened to me! There they are, I can't even parse the relationships at this point, but one party from each of the quasi-relationships is here, in this bar, and they all meet up in this one illustrious moment, and they wind up sitting together in this bar and getting drunk and playing some sort of drunken charade, and... well, that's all I'll say. It is marvellous. Maybe Woodie Allen- ish, as others have written, but I dunno; I think it's its own thing. You will have to dunk my head in the toilet to get me to say that I'm wrong about this movie, and good luck catching me! It's just a great movie, period. Small, simple, sweet. Please, don't even tell me how jaded you are if you don't like this film.** (I am not a part of or related to or otherwise in any way affiliated with anyone in or involved with this film. My opinions are my own, I do not wish to quibble.)

Because of my devotion to the boys of Stella, I was a pre-ordained fan on this movie before it came out, and a poster hung on my door even before I saw it. However, I just saw it, and I'm taking it down, because the movie sucked.Nobody could ever criticize me of 'not understanding the humor'. I am a Stella fanatic. I'm the one guy of my friends who finds it hysterical all the time. This just was not. I was really disappointed. It just wasn't funny at all. I kept waiting....'oh...it'll come....' but it didn't. There were no jokes. Some people may have said that it was subtle. It wasn't. I think that's just rationalization...sometimes you just have to accept when you have to call the bomb squad.I give it a 3 out of 10 because I didn't hate it, but it was painful to get through. It was pathetically predictable, and I found that the best part was the drinking game that was played involving impersonations. Does anyone know what game that was? Yech.