The Dilemma

Movie Reviews — 15 January 2011

“The Dilemma” staring Vince Vaughn (“Couples Retreat” and Kevin James (“Grown Ups”) is director Ron Howard’s latest comedy/drama effort and a January release when that month doesn’t have much to offer. Well, then let me dissect this one for you and the dilemma can be solved.

The film opens up at a Chicago auto show where auto dealers can show off their new wheels and what their made of. That’s exactly what Nick (James) and his best buddy Ronny Valentine (Vaughn) intend to accomplish. And with Ronny’s girlfriend, Beth (Jennifer Connelly from “9″, she was the voice of 7) and Nick’s wife, Geneva, (Winona Ryder from “Black Swan”) by their sides through thick and thin, it would seem they would have all the support two business partners could ever ask for. After all, they are attending the auto show because their business is a auto design firm and they are selling their product at the show.

Heck, Nick and Ronny go clubbing together and pretty much are glued together like best buds normally are. They pour their hearts and souls into the business day and night. But when Ronny goes on a stroll through the mini jungle there, he inadvertently sees Nick’s wife with another man. This sends Ronny into amateur private eye mode with camera in toe.

After all, this is his best buddy’s wife messing around and he is not about to let it slide. His investigation turns into lots of mayhem that just won’t let up. Ronny tracks down the culprit and the trail leads him to tattooed freaky boy, Zip, (Channing Tatum from “GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra” and “Dear John”), all hell breaks loose and aquarium fish (spoiler) suffer their fate. Ronny tries to figure out how to tell Nick his wife is not loyal to him but wonders how he will handle the bad news or even believe it since they are seemingly happily married.

Ronny convinces Geneva to fess up and when she does she blames it on Nick’s frequent massage parlor visits that he doesn’t know she knows about. Hey, even a hustler needs a massage every now and again and so do auto design firm hustlers. In the midst of all this, Ronny is not about to let Zip get off scott free, even if it costs him a good car beating.

Well, the next thing you know, all is in group therapy lead by Felix (Eduardo Martinez) and all hell breaks out there too. But after confessions are made demons start flying out of Ronny too that he wanted to come clean on. Actually, that was probably the funniest scene in the entire two hour film. There are some sweet automobiles to be had here and Ronny and Nick want to present their dream project and have a check cut. Enter Susan Warner (Queen Latifah) who heads up the sales deal and when everything starts looking good for her, she suddenly gets “lady wood”. You have to appreciate the Queen as her humor is always welcomed.

The film bored me, wasn’t as funny as I was hoping but had a fine crew including Ronny Howard’s younger brother Clint Howard and his father Rance Howard. All in the family is all good but it could have been better but could have been a dud too. I like the idea of James and Vaughn together in the same film and hopefully they will repeat it but in a different role.

“The Dilemma”, written by Allan Loeb, opens on January 14, 2011, is rated PG13, runs 120 minutes, and has nothing after the credits. Now, another dilemma the box office will face this weekend, will be who will beat up on who? Will it be “The Green Hornet” with Kato, or will it be “The Dilemma” with Vince Vaughn and Kevin James? That is up to all the Hollywood movie hustlers to decide. But I’m sure “The Green Hornet” will see more green (get it?). And while you’re determining that, I will be anxiously awaiting my next film to review.

by Hustlin Bob Higgins 2/1/2 stars