Trust the Man (2006)
Average Rating: 4.6/10
Reviews Counted: 100
Fresh: 27 | Rotten: 73
What aspires to be a sophisticated, unconventional romantic comedy turns out to be a contrivance-filled pretender to other, better films of its genre.
Average Rating: 4.6/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 24
What aspires to be a sophisticated, unconventional romantic comedy turns out to be a contrivance-filled pretender to other, better films of its genre.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.9/5
User Ratings: 25,467
My Rating
Movie Info
Two couples demonstrate that breaking up can be just as hard as staying together in this romantic comedy drama. Rebecca (Julianne Moore) and Tom (David Duchovny) are a seemingly happy married couple living in New York City -- she's a successful actress, while he stays home with the kids. However, beneath the surface, things are not going well. Rebecca is no longer amused with her husband's appetite for porn and constant sexual demands, while he's seriously considering having an affair. Rebecca's
Watch It Now
Cast
-
David Duchovny
Tom -
Julianne Moore
Rebecca -
Billy Crudup
Tobey -
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Elaine -
James LeGros
Dante -
Eva Mendes
Faith -
Dagmara Dominczyk
Pamela -
Glenn Fitzgerald
Goren -
Justin Bartha
Jasper -
John Ellison Conlee
Usher -
-
Sterling K. Brown
Rand -
Liam Broggy
David -
Ellen Barkin
Norah -
Garry Shandling
Dr. Beekman -
Sascha Gillen
Baby Maggie -
Brianna Gillen
Baby Maggie -
Scott Sowers
Terminex Guy -
Sarah Knowlton
Elaine's Boss -
Brian Tarantina
Crazy Hair Driver -
David Greenspan
Francis the Director -
Caroline Schlobohm
Shannon -
Teresa Yenque
Maria the Babysitter -
Kiran Merchant
Newspaper Vendor -
Tom Riis Farrell
Waiter -
Caleb Freundlich
Cosmos -
Jayne Houdyshell
Sex Addicts Leader -
Todd M. Hofacker
Misplaced Sex Addict -
Peter S. Bencebi
Cynical New Yorker -
Kate Jennings Grant
Woman Who Can't Get Eno... -
Frederick B. Owens
John Preferably Coarse -
Jim Gaffigan
Gordon Bitter Sex Addic... -
Steven Glenn
Rocker at the Bar -
Paul Hecht
Amis -
Steven M. Wargo
Dinner Guest -
Sherry Ham
Lincoln Center Fan -
Gretchen Cleevely
Assistant Stage Manager -
Sean Dugan
Stage Manager -
Hollis Granville
Stage Actor -
Jimmy King
Audience Member -
Chris Champeau
Audience Member -
Francine Beers
Old Lady -
Liv Freundlich
Older Maggie -
Noelle Beck
Flight Attendant
ADVERTISEMENT
Trust the Man Trailer & Photos
All Critics (107) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (28) | Rotten (78) | DVD (15)
I saw this at a festival and hated it, then sat through it again a year later and decided it wasn't so bad, aside from the god-awful ending.
It's a pity, because few romcoms pull off the basically sympathetic mining of personal vanities and social embarrassment that the film manages in its opening hour.
Freundlich's outstanding cast (including Garry Shandling, Eva Mendes, Ellen Barkin, Bob Balaban and James LeGros) -- his best since 1997's The Myth of Fingerprints -- glosses over miscalculations with sheer star power.
Two couples in trouble, one with kids, another considering them. Writer-director Bart Freundlich's challenge is to stress them and find a resolution to their conflicts in ways that aren't banal, predictable or witless. And he settles for one out of three.
The fact that Freundlich tries to put some thoughtful commentary into a formulaic story is commendable, but in the end either his faith wavers or the studio intervened.
I wish the film were true to itself and its quartet of puzzled, struggling lovers; their collapse into sitcom idiocy felt uncomfortably close to betrayal.
"Trust The Man" is an agreeable New York-centric romantic comedy about two couples on the brink of self-destructing.
A talky piece showing pretty people in a pretty Manhattan obsessing about their fairly privileged lives and the inevitability of death.
Really when you cut through all the garbage, Bart Freundlich presents us with an illusion of originality...
This rickety empty-feeling production has a script & stars that deliver lots of edgy little subtle jokes. The dialogue is crisp and crunchy, but the romance is nearly absent.
An intelligent low-brow comedy for adults.
There's no feeling of weight or consequence in a movie so shapeless it has not one but two musical montage sequences...and a "one month later" card.
Don't trust your instincts, if you're thinking of renting this one.
Over the next ninety minutes or so we are treated to a series of scenes that, while often funny, seem to exist because the cast was in the same room together.
It's winter in New York and two couples symbolically battle rain, wind and snow as their relationships skid on thin ice. There are some funny lines, novel situations and for the most part, the film is amusing, even though some of the laughs are contrived
Audience Reviews for Trust the Man
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for Trust the Man yet.
Latest News on Trust the Man
March 29, 2007:
Sequel Rumor Round-Up: Duchovny Talks "X-Files 2," Boyle Suggests "28 Months Later"?David Duchovny's doing some sequel talk. Nope, this isn't about the long hoped-for second...
August 27, 2006:
Box Office Wrapup: "Invincible" Scores #1 OpeningFootball season was back in swing at the North American box office this weekend as Disney's...
August 20, 2006:
Box Office Wrapup: Snakes Opens at #1, But Lacks BiteSamuel L. Jackson's much-talked-about thriller Snakes on a Plane landed in first place at the North...
What's Hot On RT
Bradley Cooper's Best Movies
Trailer for new Coen Bros movie
Fast & Furious cars gallery
Blockbusters ranked!
Featured on RT
- Total Recall: Bradley Cooper's Best Movies 15
- Parental Guidance: Epic and Beautiful Creatures 2
- Comic Book Movies You Can Watch Online 6
- In Pictures: The Cars of Fast & Furious 0
- Digital Multiplex: Warm Bodies and Aftershock 8
- Discover the Best-Reviewed Films in Summer Movie Scorecard 2013 0
- RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: The Last Stand and Side Effects 17
Top Headlines
-
Vin Diesel Says Fast & Furious 7 Will Take Place in L.A.
0
-
10 Things You (Probably) Don't Know About the Hangover Movies
1
-
Zack Snyder, Christopher Nolan, and David S. Goyer Talk Man of Steel
0
-
New Transporter Trilogy in the Works
0
-
Richard Linklater Plans "Spiritual Sequel" to Dazed and Confused
0
-
King of Kong Filmmaker Seeks Funding for Lost Limb Documentary
0
-
Which Film Franchise Has Been the Best for Female Characters?
6










Top Critic
It takes an awful long time for this film to get started; it should be used in film classes to show how not to do exposition. During the first act of the film, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel about these characters -- whether they were to be taken seriously or merely seen as farcical caricatures. But once the film establishes the various problems affecting these relationships, I think it's fairly entertaining. Even Julianne Moore, whom I hate, is tolerable. I especially liked the scene in which dinner guests overhear Elaine bragging about her new beau's manhood to her old beau. And there's a great two-shot in the third act of David Duchovny and Billy Crudup in tuxedos looking as though they're ready for anything but nonetheless clueless.
The ending is, of course, cliche, and some of the supporting characters are too over-the-top to be believed (I'm looking at you Goren [Glenn Fitzgerald] and Dante [James LeGros]), but overall, though I have no idea why it's called Trust the Man, Trust the Man delivers a few laughs for the light-hearted fare it eventually attempts to be.