Trust the Man

POVZETEK

Relationship angst afflicts a group of Manhattanites in this wry romantic comedy from writer/director Bart Freundlich. As a married couple whose sex life is stagnating, David Duchovny and Julianne Moore revive their chemistry from Evolution and are given some memorable scenes - Duchovny's attempts at seduction are undone by amusingly offbeat distractions like Moore choking on cake or her fixation with the shoddy production values of a porn movie. Freundlich evidently wants to reproduce the wisecracking flavour of Woody Allen's best 1970s movies and, though he never steps out from the shadow of the New York maestro, there are some moments of witty invention. It's just a shame that supporting couple Billy Crudup and Maggie Gyllenhaal have such underwritten parts and that a ridiculously overblown ending contrasts so sharply with the urbane, deadpan humour that precedes it. Trust the Man may not linger in the memory, but it is pleasantly diverting while it lasts.