recommended

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Zach Braff and Jason Bateman in one movie, hell yeah! How can it not be funny? Answer: by getting poor writers that have no idea of what makes these actors great. I guess "Fast Track" technically is a comedy, but it's just one without punchlines, funny one-liners or well, wit of any kind really. There's a lot of drama in there, there's a lot of romance, there's a lot of Amanda Peet talking about poo, but somewhere along the line they stopped bothering to put in actual laughs. There are indeed some attempts at humor in this movie, but it's the kind of situational drivel you already sigh at when it comes up in sitcoms, let alone in feature films. The actors save what there is to save, but they can't exactly make it laugh-out-loud funny with this material. A disappointment.

After losing his job as a New York City cook, lovable slacker-type Zach Braff (as Tom Reilly) finally decides to accept an offer from his wife's father to work for an advertising agency in Ohio. Pretty pregnant Amanda Peet (as Sofia) is a lawyer, but wants to stay home and care for the couple's baby. Arriving in their new suburban home, the trio are greeted by Ms. Peet's parents Charles Grodin (as Bob Kowalski) and Mia Farrow (as Amelia). Mr. Grodin reveals his son-in-law will be trained by Peet's ex-boyfriend from high school, "handicapable" paraplegic Jason Bateman (as Chip Sanders)...In the workplace, Mr. Braff makes a "faux pas" by tossing an imaginary ball to Mr. Bateman, who can't jump from an unseen wheelchair. Taking a break, Braff next eats Bateman's yogurt. The two men become rivals at work, then Braff learns Bateman wants to rekindle his romance with Peet...This film appears to be available in different versions, and reading reviews and/or comments is likely to give away important plot points. My preference is for the "Unrated" version. Most paraplegic characters are heroic; it always seems like the villainous ones shockingly get up and walk, so it's refreshing to leave the story's "villain" in a wheelchair. However, the cheerleader "dream sequence" is extractable, and some very funny "deleted scenes" should have stayed.Some of the excised material could be considered "politically incorrect" - but, with so much raunchy material out and about, "The Ex" looks more sabotaged than sanctified. Best are director Jesse Peretz' scenes spoofing a touchy-feely "New Age" workplace. Grodin and Ms. Farrow are great together. In fact, Grodin's funny/sad portrayal of an older man trying to adapt to the modern workplace is marvelous; in a layered performance, you can watch his strained façade peel away. Grodin is "Supporting Actor" award-worthy. And, Bateman makes the most of his more tenuous role.******* The Ex (2/8/07) Jesse Peretz ~ Zach Braff, Jason Bateman, Amanda Peet, Charles Grodin

"The Ex" is one of those movies that you expect to be a little-known comedy gem. Its cast, including Amanada Peet, Zach Braff and Jason Bateman, are all very talented. But there's good reason it was a straight-to-DVD release. It's not funny.Its biggest problem is with characterization. Zach Braff plays the everyman, which is good casting because Braff plays the everyman with a comedic touch quite well. So well, in fact, that we connect to him. He wants to treat his wife well, work hard, and impress his in-laws. We want him to succeed just as much as he does. But then we start finding out that his wife (Amanda Peet) has no likable qualities and continues to force his life into hell, his in-laws of course are completely stubborn, and his co-worker (Jason Bateman) is a competitive back-stabbing ex-boyfriend of his wife. Obviously things don't go well for our hero, and they don't go well for the entire course of the movie.For this to work as a comedy, we need to understand our hero's connection to his wife, we need to see that there's a way in to connect with his in-laws, and we need to know that other characters see what the ex is really like, but the writers didn't give us any of that. Instead we have to sit there while our hero, who is essentially us, is being tortured for no good reason and with no way out. I certainly wasn't laughing.

This movie, without any exceptions really, gets steadily worse and worse until the point it becomes simply tedious to watch and frankly insulting. The clichés rattle out thick and fast, the predictability is so straightforward you don't even feel good when you get it right 10 out of 10 times and the character decisions are so ridiculous you'd be let down if you saw them on a nickelodeon show for 5 year olds.The saving grace is certainly Zach Braff, who we've learnt from Graden Sate and quite a few occasions in Scrubs, has a great ability to serious things up brilliantly whilst still having us consistently at fits at his antics and excellent line delivery. He can make the most straightforward line seem absolutely hilarious, Scriptwriters must love him. He has few chances to shine on this occasion but the chances he gets he ceases hole-heartedly. Amanda Peet and Jason Bateman were less than impressive and everyone else was just plain awful. It wasn't their fault mind you. They were given next to nothing to work realistically with.It can be tricky with these sorts of movies to keep the humor up and the story believable so the odd slip up is more than excusable. But not to this extent and particularly not when it's not even that funny. Braff fans are the only ones who will benefit from this movie and even they may feel slightly let down. Everyone else would be well advised to avoid at all costs.