The Baxter (2005)
Average Rating: 5.1/10
Reviews Counted: 73
Fresh: 24 | Rotten: 49
The Baxter is good-natured, but there are simply not enough laughs to fuel this comedy.
Average Rating: 4.6/10
Critic Reviews: 25
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 19
The Baxter is good-natured, but there are simply not enough laughs to fuel this comedy.
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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 7,306
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Movie Info
A man with a "doormat" personality tries standing up for himself for a change in this comedy. Mild mannered tax accountant Elliot Sherman (Michael Showalter) is what he calls a "Baxter": the kind of calm, unexciting fellow who "wears sock garters" and "enjoys raking leaves." Loved by bosses and parents, Elliot is a perfectly nice guy. And that's his problem -- he's safe and pleasant, but not very interesting, so as a consequence he hasn't had much luck with long-term relationships, and more than
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Cast
-
Michael Showalter
Elliot Sherman -
Elizabeth Banks
Caroline Swann -
Michelle Williams
Cecil Mills -
Justin Theroux
Bradley Lake -
Zak Orth
Wendall Wimms -
-
Catherine Lloyd Burns
Stella -
Peter Dinklage
Benson Hedges -
Paul Rudd
Dan Abbott -
David Wain
Louis Lewis -
A.D. Miles
Bar Baxter #1 -
Joe Lo Truglio
Bar Baxter #2 -
Seth Herzog
Bar Baxter #3 -
Jonathan Marc Sherman
Deaf Bar Baxter -
Leslie Lyles
Sheila Sherman -
Donna Mitchell
Judy Swann -
Haviland Morris
Kate -
Audrie J. Neenan
Pastor Pritchard -
Marylouise Burke
Delores -
Gabriel Millman
Max -
Sarah Drew
Serena -
Ken Marino
Jack Mechanic -
Jim DeMarse
Leonard Sherman -
Chris Spain
Tanner Bates -
John DeVries
Alan Swann -
Peter Stadlen
Young Elliot -
Abigail Wathen
Kimberly -
Bobby Tisdale
Emcee -
Michael Portnoy
Interpretive Dancer -
Maya Goldsmith
Muffy -
Jenny Maguire
Peg -
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All Critics (83) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (25) | Rotten (50) | DVD (6)
The performers are fresh and offbeat, with the diminutive Peter Dinklage (Elf, The Station Agent) especially funny as a gay wedding planner named Benson Hedges.
Top CriticShowalter tackles his mission with energy and an upbeat attitude that makes him a winner as a lovable loser.
Only when Williams is around does the movie seem human, true, and funny: Even in her slapstick there's pain. She's almost too good: It's not until she's left a scene that you realize the movie isn't working.
There are enough laughs that those who enjoyed The 40-Year-Old Virgin might want to take The Baxter for a whirl.
Showalter all-too-slavishly follows the lock-step school of formula romance.
Mildly cute while thoroughly forgettable, the chief achievement of The Baxter is it serves to remind viewers how thoroughly adorable Michelle Williams can be, even in something this inconsequential.
A droll romantic comedy that relies on a self-deprecating brand of humor which must be a bit of an acquired taste. The film's utter predictably sinks this exercise in obviousms, making its few funny moments not worth waiting for.
A droll romantic comedy that relies on a self-deprecating brand of humor which must be a bit of an acquired taste. The film's utter predictably sinks this exercise in obviousms, making its few funny moments not worth waiting for.
Showalter cria um filme exatamente como seu protagonista: desajeitadamente simpático e divertido.
What comes to mind are TV sitcom pilots full of strain, and the forlornly perky mechanisms of old Day & Hudson comedies.
Clearly the filmmakers are trying to make The Baxter look old-fashioned. But there's a modern smugness and superiority that undermines that attempt.
It doesn't take much imagination to guess who will end up with whom, but The Baxter is agreeably silly and has lots of simple charm.
Every romantic-comedy cliché gets played out, but merely re-enacting those clichés in an arch tone isn't funny enough.
The structure is a miscalculation by Showalter, who inexplicably drives his audience through the exact type of sappy material he had started off satirizing.
Perhaps it's only just that a movie about a loser should be a loser itself.
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