The Dilemma (2011)

Ronny Valentine (Vince Vaughn) is Nick Brannen's (Kevin James) best friend from college and partner in their own auto design firm. Ronny has girlfriend Beth (Jennifer Connelly), and Nick is happily married to Geneva (Winona Ryder). Then Ronny spies Geneva making out with another man.

This is probably the worst Ron Howard movie I've ever seen. I don't know what the original intention was. Is cheating in a marriage really slapstick comedy material? Vince Vaughn and Kevin James could be a funny team in another movie. I just can't tell as I worry about what's going on in that marriage. If you're making fun of this material, you'd have to go dark. Neither guy is that great at dark comedies and Ron Howard is the last person to direct that.

Fmovies: I like titles where one word can refer to multiple things occurring in the movie. "The Dilemma" can mean, will Ronny (Vince Vaughn) propose to girlfriend Beth (Jennifer Connelly)? or when Ronny catches Geneva (Winona Ryder) cheating on best friend Nick (Kevin James), should he tell him? Will Ronny and Nick be able to land and keep the lucrative Chrysler deal to save their company? Unfortunately, none of these story lines are particularly interesting or very funny.

Vince Vaughn is his usual self, and Kevin James can be both funny and the nerdy engineer. But the problems occur at the very beginning, first when we realize that one of the best actresses in the cast, Ms. Connelly, is only there to smile and look pretty, and then we start concentrating on Winona Ryder who appears as though she's acting in "Girl, Interrupted" instead; her character is just way too deranged looking to be enjoyable. For what should be a simple buddy comedy, they added way too many sub-plots and although there were a few laughs, it was mostly boring and not all that funny.

By the end, the film settled down a bit more, and we got to concentrate on Ronny and Nick. Vaughn and James are the only two actors in the film who actually belong in such a film, and I enjoyed their camaraderie. They were good characters, funny guys, and decent people. "The Dilemma" isn't horribly written, had a few jokes, and I was smiling at the end, but it tested my patience just a bit too much.

Normally if you go to a movie and then discover that the Mexican food you ate is doing a number on your stomach you get disappointed that you might have to miss some of the movie while you destroy the bathroom at the theater. That was not the case with this movie. I sat through the first 15 minutes because I wanted to at least see what was going on. At the 10 minute mark I thought I was going to blow up, but I held it in while hoping something funny would happen. Another few minutes went by and I rook a step out to give the janitors something to cry about. When I came back I asked my friend if I missed anything and he said he was about to leave.

I kept watching and laughed maybe once, kind of. I couldn't believe Jennifer Connelly was in this movie and it was sooo bad. Not to mention Vince Vaughn being a funny guy but providing no laughs throughout this whole movie. I guess that worked out well though because after another 20 minutes I was ready to blow again. Had I laughed hard at any point during this movie I would've need a gallon of bleach and a trip to the laundromat. But this movie sure didn't deliver it. After my final trip to the bathroom I came back to find my friend had left. Many others in the theater left throughout the movie as well. I sat and watched the rest, but mostly because I wanted to hold still and hope my stomach settled down.

The Dilemma fmovies. I think it was wrong to advertise this as a comedy. It was not. But I felt it was real. The argument that those two women wouldn't be interested in these two people is ridiculous argument. Its done in Movies all the time. But this really was NOT a comedy.

I think people are giving the movie a bad rap mainly for that reason. Not because it was a bad movie. Yes it made your stomach upset but that is because it was an uncomfortable movie.

I gave a 9 out of 10 because it wasn't perfect. But it was damn good. Vince Vaughn actually impressed me here. He usually plays an obnoxious prick. He was still kind of obnoxious but we got to see his human side as well which we don't see very often in his movies.

This movie was about the friendship of two best friends and "the dilemma" you can be put in when you find out the best friend's wife is cheating. How do you really break it to them. Its not just like a girlfriend. That may be easier to do. But a wife, and you know its gonna hurt.

OK..OK..it wasn't 'awful', but it wasn't OH MY GAWD this is great either. The Dilemma is presented as a conflict that Vince Vaughn has when he sees his best friend and business partner's wife having an affair. Coulda , shoulda, woulda been a different movie had the following happened: 1. Winonna Ryder...isn't in the movie 2. Kevin James ..had more comedy rather than 'engineering' skills 3. Winonna and Kevin were 2 different actors that were the married couple in this flick AND, 4. they stuck to the storyline and stopped adding countless subplots that have no impact on the movie or the comedy or the acting.

This movie had a lot of potential, it just didn't produce it.

Vince and Jennifer were acceptable as an unwed committed couple but there wasn't enough balance between comedy and drama. I went into this expecting comedy and got more drama. It just wasn't Vince's best work, nor was it Ron's.

Even the 'other man' (who's name escapes me) was just too far fetched to wrap my mind around in character. He was over he top. If he was like the guy from the Richard Gere, Dianne Lane movie, then it'd be more believable.

I'm just not sure what I watched tonight. Vince had his typically banter and rhetoric in some scenes, but the movie was just too heavy and too over the top with story lines for me to count...or to recommend.

I also didn't like Queen L in this...she overacted her scenes and her character just didn't seem to fit in enough to make it worth her paycheck. This is the same actress that got the Oscar nod for Chicago...completely overacting in this movie.

I'd definitely wait for the DVD..as a rental. You will only want to see it once..

I went into this movie with an open mind. I didn't think it would be the greatest movie ever made, but at the same time I knew it was directed by Ron Howard, who has made some outstanding movies. The movie is not as funny as I thought it would be, but in the end that was o.k. to me. Most people probably went to see it with the mindset that it was going to be a mindless laugh-fest because of the previews and the stars Vince Vaughn and Kevin James. This is not the case. In my opinion Vince Vaughn has one of his better performances in this film. Kevin James did the most he could with his character, but in the end fell flat. I think that if you watch this movie without any expectations you'll end up enjoying it. Final verdict - not great, but not a waste of time either.