the perennial whine that the characters are "unlikable" is no valid criticism it is merely an observation, and a banal one at that. to halt there is to confess a childish need for moral comfort or easy identification, suitable perhaps for twelve-year-olds. I find the film incredibly funny, because the people on screen are so repellent.
the apex arrives in Jason Patric's Cary delivering his monologue about a high-school bullying incident gone grotesquely sexual, the delivery, deadpan and self-satisfied, renders it perversely hilarious to me. something in that juxtaposition of monstrous content and casual relish elevated the entire picture to four-and-a-half stars.

the perennial whine that the characters are "unlikable" is no valid criticism it is merely an observation, and a banal one at that. to halt there is to confess a childish need for moral comfort or easy identification, suitable perhaps for twelve-year-olds. I find the film incredibly funny, because the people on screen are so repellent.
the apex arrives in Jason Patric's Cary delivering his monologue about a high-school bullying incident gone grotesquely sexual, the delivery, deadpan and self-satisfied, renders it perversely hilarious to me. something in that juxtaposition of monstrous content and casual relish elevated the entire picture to four-and-a-half stars.

Catherine Keener would run that polycule like the Navy.

Catherine Keener would run that polycule like the Navy.

A deeply unpleasant look into sex, affairs, and misogyny. Neil LaBute's previous film 'In the Company of Men' is one of the great '90s sicko psychological black comedies, carefully examining the minds of grade A misogynists willfully seeking women to ruin. LaBute treads similar ground here but to less than stellar results, feeling less like a tightly written play, and more of a mopey indie mumblecore-esque drama. Aaron Eckhart returns, less psychopathic than his Company of Men role, instead veering off into the sad and desperate type, which he's just fine as.

Like a diet Solondz without the rawness.

A deeply unpleasant look into sex, affairs, and misogyny. Neil LaBute's previous film 'In the Company of Men' is one of the great '90s sicko psychological black comedies, carefully examining the minds of grade A misogynists willfully seeking women to ruin. LaBute treads similar ground here but to less than stellar results, feeling less like a tightly written play, and more of a mopey indie mumblecore-esque drama. Aaron Eckhart returns, less psychopathic than his Company of Men role, instead veering off into the sad and desperate type, which he's just fine as.

Like a diet Solondz without the rawness.