Don’t assume that the book matches the cover with The Dilemma.
If you’re expecting this one to be a dopey, buddy-buddy yuk-yuk lampoon, well shoot, so was I. The inclusion alone of Kevin James would almost seem to guarantee a two hour exercise in fat-guy-falls-down humour.
It’s not.
In fact, The Dilemma is surprisingly heavy. Well, for a comedy anyway. Director Ron Howard isn’t exactly re-visiting A Beautiful Mind here.
Vince Vaughn’s handful of cool, sarcasm-dripping monologues certifies more than a couple of laughs. Still, The Dilemma is more about macho melodrama than mindless beer-with-the-guys material. And whether or not that’s a positive probably depends on what you’re after.
Admittedly, Howard has done better. I liked The Dilemma, but fully realize how uneven and overlong the film is. The concept works, and the actors attack it with due efficiency, but then, the whole thing just spins in a big circle. It’s like one of those comedy sketches with a great idea behind it, but no one thought about how it should end. And the result, on both fronts, is a subtle yet unavoidable uncomfortable vibe.
The tale introduces two Chicago couples: Ronny (Vaughn) and his girlfriend Beth (Jennifer Connelly), and Nick (James) and his wife Geneva (Winona Ryder). There are sub-plots scattered about: Ronny is a recovering gambling addict, he can’t seem to muster up the courage to propose to Beth, and both boys are working together on a business deal that will make or break their respective careers.
But the meat of the story is served up when Ronny spots Geneva steppin’ out on her man with a tattoo-riddled bad boy (Channing Tatum). Thus, as the title of the movie would suggest, Ronny has a major dilemma; risk both friendship and possible prosperity and spill the beans to his best bud, or zip the lip and feel horrendous guilt.
It’s a little odd that, for a commercial venture –– and again, especially with the promotion behind it suggesting light, fluffy comedy –– The Dilemma has an edge to it. There’s pain and frustration here and, truth be told, you aren’t always up to the chuckles when they do come.
Vaughn and James are funny guys, they’re just juggling material here that isn’t as hilarious as it is, at times, heart-wrenching. A bit of a dilemma, indeed.
