The Ex

Review in a Hurry:  Zach Braff and Jason Bateman are very well matched as office rivals who fight with words, wheelchairs, fists and any other weapons of amusing destruction they can get their hands on. What they need most, however, is a better story.

The Bigger Picture:  A New York slacker (Braff) finally sucks it up and gets his first "real job" at an ad agency in Ohio. He does it to please his breadwinning wife (Amanda Peet), who has just given birth to their baby and wants a break. Of course, jobs suck. And this one sucks even more because the boss (Bateman) is the wife's ex. Ouch. He's also a well-endowed, wheelchair-bound jerk. But nobody but Braff can see past the damn wheels! Argh!

Braff and Bateman have a hell of a lot of fun together. They square off in fights that cut to the core of basic human loathing. Bateman knows how to cut with language, calling Braff "Big Guy" or casually boasting that he comes up with ideas in his sleep. And Braff isn't doing his Garden State morose hipster thing; he actually seems fired up. And we know off the bat that this is a classic duel, and only one can win.

Man vs. jerk stories can be fulfilling, usually because of that scene when the lead dude finally stops the pity party and steps up to the plate. (Hello Dodgeball!) But The Ex doesn't have that scene. At no point does Braff throw in the towel and collapse on the couch. At no point does Bateman get really, really convinced that he's won, only to get sucker punched. You positively yearn for those moments. Instead, the two just plug away. Braff suffers the most, since he's our hero who never has a flicker of self-doubt.

So what then does fill the hour and forty minutes? Oh, random stuff about babies and adulthood, and sacrifice...stuff that doesn't belong in this movie. We watch Amanda Peet suffer mild postpartum depression. We watch her again. And then again. Mia Farrow and Amy Adams, who also appear, are even more misplaced

A great movie knows what it is, and The Ex is confused. Said confusion and emotional vacancy aside, The Ex does zip along, like a clip show of Braff vs. Bateman fights, and you have to give them props for stepping into Stiller & Wilson territory and making it feel fresh again.

The 180—a Second Opinion:  If you're not a fan of either Bateman or Braff, then nothing's going to save this muddled comedy for you. Their sparks are all that keep it going.