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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