The Dilemma Reviews
Top Critic
As cumbersome and drawn out as a slowly deflating tire, this cinematic collision between Vaughn's celebrated funny-surly persona and Howard's earnest pedigree is a bore -- and a serious miscalculation.
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| Original Score: C-
Who ever thought that Ron Howard could make a cult film? This movie is a mess, but it's an intelligent and affecting mess.
It lacks faith in its story, characters and audience.
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| Original Score: 2/5
Perhaps the late Blake Edwards could have found a balance between slapstick and psychodrama, but Ron Howard can't get the pacing right, and Allan Loeb's script is even wordier than the one he wrote for Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.
The filmmakers just don't know what to do about the ladies.
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| Original Score: C+
Bromances being what they are, Vince's sharp pang of disappointment might have been worth pursuing but, Ron Howard being who he is, not a chance.
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| Original Score: 1/4
Can we ever truly know someone? Can we even answer the question? Probably not, but The Dilemma gets credit for trying.
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| Original Score: 2.5/4
Torn between establishing itself as a bromantic comedy or a relationship potboiler, the movie meets the requirements of neither. It is unsatisfying in general.
| Original Score: 2.5/5
The script by Allan Loeb careens all over the place without ever coming to rest on anything interesting.
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| Original Score: D+
A very poor effort from a talented group of people, this is a terrible movie wrapped in a glossy package.
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| Original Score: F
The January movie burial ground claims another victim. RIP.
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| Original Score: 2/4
There's no "Dilemma" here at all - just a simple disappointment.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
There is much to say about the love that, except in comedies, dare not speak its name - the kind between straight men. "The Dilemma" says enough of it to be interesting.
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| Original Score: 3/4
While Vaughn proves he's still got the fast-talking bravado that makes him so bewilderingly watchable, neither his quick wit nor his chemistry with Kevin James can transform "The Dilemma" into the gold standard of buddy comedies.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
The Dilemma never stops being a movie, and never starts being a good one.
Dilemma rests on the same structural foundation as episodes of Three's Company, when Mr. Roper thought he heard shenanigans through the kitchen door. A simple conversation would clear things up.
What "The Dilemma" ultimately does best is create a platform for Vaughn to drag that iconic character of his into full-blown adulthood.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
...this is quite a bit more engaging and emotionally challenging than one had much reason to expect.
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| Original Score: 3.5/5
The real dilemma in the sadly unfunny "The Dilemma" is that several different movies are going on in director Ron Howard's first nondrama in 11 years.
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| Original Score: 1/5
A comedy that seems terrified to acknowledge its darker, more sinister self, it's like an overmedicated patient or an addict in dread of relapse.
Full Review
| Original Score: 1/4
What distinguishes The Dilemma ... is its resounding unfunnyness, its emotional dishonesty, and the general unlikability of its cast of characters.
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| Original Score: 1.5/4
The movie is not all that deep, but it does go further than many of its kind in acknowledging the hurt and difficulty that are the deep wellsprings of any comedy worthy of the name.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
Good performances in an interesting attempt that ultimately fails. Wrong fit for director Ron Howard.
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| Original Score: 2/5
Unfortunately, Ronny and Nick's bromance takes over, and James has neither the comedy chops or wildness to keep up with Vaughn.
The ugly emotional mess is so respectfully handled that the story resonates far beyond its comic designs.
The jokes, when and where they can be found, are puerile, and continually give Vaughn the movie-star catbird seat.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
Among Howard's infrequent misfires, this is one of the most disappointing.
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| Original Score: 2/4
"The Dilemma" is never dull, but it's also a mess.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
The true dilemma of this misguided seriocomedy lies in the filmmakers' confusion as to whether they're making a side-splitting bromance (nope) or an unsparing, warts-and-all look at screwed-up relationships (sort of).
A dark spirit pervades this Vince Vaughn/Kevin James buddy movie that stifles laughter.
