Saw this movie last night with the wife. We enjoyed it, though the film was frustratingly schizophrenic. I was expecting a romantic comedy, buddy movie performance out of Diaz, but she played it straight. Actually, in a movie that warranted phoning-it-in to a certain extent, she brought a seriousness that caught me off guard. Reminded me of her performance in She's the One. Mann, I think, had a better grasp on the balance between the comedy and the drama in her performance, as one might expect from her. Nikolaj looked like was having some fun in the role. Though watching his nose break on the glass window was a jump-out-of-the-seat moment for both my wife and me. That is going to end up as one of my favorite gotcha moments in film, so it's weird that it comes from a movie like this. Kate, well, she's pretty to look at. Not her fault, she just wasn't given anything to test her. Though, she does strike me as sorely needing real training.
One of the things I rather enjoyed in the film was the focus on these women building relationships with one another, rather than just a straight up revenge comedy. This is where Diaz's dramatic chops really paid off, as well as Mann's ability to weave genuine stress and heartache in and out of the silliness with great skill. Unfortunately, I felt that Kate's character gets the shaft in the script, preventing this from being a more well-balanced ensemble piece rather than the star-vehicle it turned out to be. Had she had been given her due, though, I wonder if Upton would have been up to the task. The character in Mark could have been fleshed out more, as I felt he switches back and forth from suave to schmuck with too much frequency, and no real discernible depth or rules to his personality or portrayal. Coster-Waldau didn't seem like the source of the inconstancy.
The word for this movie really is cohesion, simply because it was needed. I'm wondering if Cassavetes was trying to make one movie, and the studio wanted another, and we ended up with this frankenfilm. I enjoyed it, but only for bits and pieces.
2.5/5