If Braff really wants a movie career, he is going to have to do better than this mediocrity. Why should anyone pay to see this when they can catch his act on TV for free?
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05/11/07
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The Ex (2007)
18
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:98
Fresh:18
Rotten:80
Average Rating:4.3/10
Consensus: The Ex suffers from inept direction and characters that are either unsympathetic or plain unpleasant to watch.
Theatrical Release:May 11, 2007 Wide
Box Office: $3,015,131
Synopsis: This rollicking and slightly absurd comedy from director Jesse Peretz (FIRST LOVE, LAST RITES) begins when Tom Reilly (Zach Braff) loses his promising chef job at a swanky New York restaurant. He... [More]
Starring: Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman, Donal Logue
Director: Jesse Peretz
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Reviews for The Ex
The result is a wildly uneven movie, with some big laughs here and there. For the most part, though, it looks like the kind of concept comedy that was pitched to Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn or Owen Wilson, and didn't quite make the cut.
05/11/07
The real scene-stealer is neighbor kid Wesley (Lucian Maisel), whose burger-eating trick is either an amazing special effect or a true freak of nature.
05/11/07
The Ex is shrill when it means to be irreverent. It's frustrating to see the lead performers squandering their collective talent in a movie that fails to match the fun and pathos of their TV work.
05/11/07
Top CriticLike many woeful major studio releases that run under 90 minutes, The Ex seems arbitrarily edited to squeeze in extra screenings before it's killed by word-of-mouth.
05/11/07
Top CriticThough there are giggles here and there, the film is inexcusably unfunny.
05/11/07
Top CriticIn its cast, especially Bateman, The Ex has better material than it seems to know what to do with.
05/11/07
As it is, The Ex doesn't test your funny bone, only your patience.
05/11/07
Bateman, who played a good guy on Arrested Development, proves rather easy to despise, especially once his malevolence loses its comic edge.
05/11/07
Jason Bateman taps into the delicious mean-spiritedness of that show beautifully in this big-screen turn.
05/11/07
Nothing is more of a downer than a movie that trots out a great cast and stumbles; that tries to be cutesy and fails.
05/11/07
The Ex is extremely, exceptionally, extraordinarily forgettable, just like that stuff on the small screen.
05/11/07
It's a comedy with a few good gags, a completely wasted cast and all the signs of a project that has undergone unnecessary emergency surgery.
05/11/07
Top CriticBlink and you might miss Mia Farrow, who turns up as Peet's slightly addled mother. She probably should have stayed home.
05/11/07
Top CriticSo much of comedy is in the timing, though, and The Ex doesn't quite know when to quit. Or at least move on.
05/11/07
Braff and Bateman engage in a beautiful comedic, verbal ballet that made me laugh much more than I would have thought I would, given what I knew about the story before watching the film. Both actors display on-target timing.
05/11/07
The next time Grodin attempts a comeback, it would be so great if he avoids movies where he might be upstaged by a sandwich stunt.
05/11/07
It's like undercooked lasagna: lots of layers, but the flavors never blend.
05/11/07
After watching "The Ex" I wondered whether actors are bothering to read scripts anymore before accepting a job. In the case of Jesse Peretz's film, the story is as mean-spirited as it is ridiculous.
05/11/07
No year-end awards but boy did I laugh.
05/11/07
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