Die Super Ex (My Super Ex-Girlfriend)
U.S.A. 2006

Opening 16 Nov 2006

Directed by: Ivan Reitman
Writing credits: Don Payne
Principal actors: Uma Thurman, Luke Wilson, Anna Faris, Rainn Wilson

Someone said youth is wasted on the young.  In this case notable comedic talents are wasted on director Ivan Reitman’s attempt at a screwball comedy.

Hollywood “boyfriend” extraordinaire Luke Wilson looking pudgy and tired lacks his usual luster.   No wonder his Matt Saunders can’t pull any NYC babes.   So instead like many of our colleagues, he whiles away the hours designing interiors for Asian clients.  Matt has a secret crush on a cute colleague (Anna Faris) but wouldn’t dream of taking on a girl dating a male model.  So instead we get stuck with the usual male bonding gripes and tales of women in and out of bed courtesy of Matt’s sex-crazed buddy, Rainn Wilson.  Enter the quintessential neurotic art gallerist Jenny Johnson (Uma Thurman) who moonlights as G-Girl.  Think Wonderwoman with a private shopping account at Bergdorf Goodman and Barney’s.  She just wants to feel like a super natural woman.

Through the usual serendipity, Matt and Jenny “meet cute” and reveal that psycho girlfriends with glasses are powerful sex artists who just cannot take “no” for an answer and that men want women that are all sex but no commitment.  Just to keep the story going, Jenny gets a nemesis in the shape of English comedian Eddie Izzard.  He’s a real treat as the neurotic nerd on steroids and Jenny’s abandoned paramour, Professor Bedlam. All in all the film is nice to look at: NYC in the fall; fantastic apartments; and great if over the top outfits for G-Girl.  We even get a new standard for the ultimate sexual bang. However, with such a cast Mr. Reitman should put them to work and produced a more original comedy for our times of confused gender roles and expectations. (Rita Pearson Schwandt)