Trust the Man

Now that Woody Allen has 'œbeen banished to Europe,' well-heeled Manhattanites are in need of a new filmmaker to tell their tales, said Ethan Alter in Premiere.com. 'œBut does that filmmaker have to be Bart Freundlich?' The man best known as Julianne Moore's husband oddly keeps getting funding for his films, though 'œit's rare to find anyone who admits to liking them.' His latest, Trust the Man, attempts to break into the romantic-comedy genre, but it's neither romantic nor amusing. Like Allen's later films, this one feels mostly like 'œthe work of a New Yorker who hasn't left his trendy neighborhood in 10 years.' Freundlich obviously took the hackneyed advice to 'œwrite what you know,' said Ella Taylor in the LA Weekly. Trust the Man dwells on the marriage of Rebecca, a successful actress, and Tom, her malcontent househusband. In a thematic parallel, her brother, Tobey, is having problems with his girlfriend, Elaine. 'œOne couple has babies and no sex; the other has great sex but no babies.' You'd think Freundlich could come up with a smidgen of insight about modern marriage and the damage women's success does to men's self-esteem. But no, the best he can manage is a 'œweakling comedy of manners riffing on extramarital nooky.' Even the 'œgravely beautiful' Moore looks horribly uncomfortable as Rebecca, said Joanne Kaufman in The Wall Street Journal. Comedy was never really her milieu, but her co-stars don't do better. 'œThis is what happens when you trust the wrong man.'

Rating: R

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