Trust the Man (2005)

Director:

Bart Freundlich

Writer (WGA):

Bart Freundlich (written by)

Release Date:

1 September 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

He's doing the best he can

Plot:

After all the drama, cheating, and trial separations, two men (Crudup, Duchovny) fight to save their respective relationships.

Plot Keywords:

Jealousy | Unitard | Serendipity | Porn Freak | Cake

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Tom
Julianne Moore	...	Rebecca
Sascha Gillen	...	Baby Maggie
Brianna Gillen	...	Baby Maggie
Liam Broggy	...	David
Scott Sowers	...	TerminEx Guy
Billy Crudup	...	Tobey
Maggie Gyllenhaal	...	Elaine
Garry Shandling	...	Dr. Beekman
Sarah Knowlton	...	Elaine's Boss
Brian Tarantina	...	Crazy Hair Driver
Justin Bartha	...	Jasper Bernard
David Greenspan	...	Francis, the Director
Dagmara Dominczyk	...	Pamela
Caroline Schlobohm	...	Shannon

MPAA:

Rated R for language and sexual content.

Runtime:

Canada:103 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Argentina:103 min | USA:103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Peru:14 | Finland:K-7 | Singapore:NC-16 | Australia:M | Ireland:16 | USA:R | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:Atp | UK:15 | Brazil:12 | Germany:o.Al. | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Sidney Kimmel Entertainment

Trivia:

The children of star Julianne Moore and writer/director Bart Freundlich make their movie debuts in "Trust the Man". Caleb Freundlich plays Cosmos, Pamela's son who punches David Duchovny and Liv Freundlich plays Moore's daughter Maggie in the final scenes.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the scene transitioning to the Christmas holidays, a shot of Central Park is shown with Christo and Jeanne-Claude's The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005 in the park. However, this display was unfurled on February 12, 2005 -- after the holidays were over.

Quotes:

[first lines]
David: I need help!
Tom: I'll go.

Movie Connections:

References Walk on Water (2004)

Soundtrack:

Bullet and a Target

An occasionally funny romantic comedy although it's mostly a non-engaging ride

Tom (David Duchovny) is a stay-at-home dad married to a popular actress (Julianne Moore), while his best friend and her younger brother Tobey (Billy Crudup) has lived for eight years with the hard-working Elaine (Maggie Gyllenhaal) but won't commit to the relationship by marrying her. This is what happens when these four New Yorkers decide to explore other options.

At a glance, Trust the Man seems harmless enough but it's actually fake and a bit too insignificant to really have an impact on the viewer. The script was simple and it wasn't hard to figure out where things were going. The dialog was okay although some of it was a bit unnatural. I'm not from New York so maybe this is actually normal behavior but a lot of the conversations were just awkward and none of it felt real. All of the characters spoke in the same way so the movie got a little irritating because it was just the same personalities on screen and there was no variety. However, some of the dialog and scenes were pretty funny.

The characters weren't particularly interesting and most of them were unlikable. In the beginning, their situations were interesting to watch and then the film ditched the laughs and got all serious. The sudden change of tone invited the viewer to feel sorry for these people even though most were one-dimensional and pretty selfish. So, the first half of the movie was decently funny and consistent. The second half was serious and just not very interesting. The one thing I did like about the movie was the setting and Bart Freundlich did a good job at creating a realistic area. It's too bad he couldn't use some of that realism with the script and characters.

Out of the leading cast, Billy Crudup gave the best performance. His character was pretty selfish yet still engaging and funny. David Duchovny was very wooden and not interesting at all. This was probably the intention although I didn't like the idea of his character at all and his performance was unbearable at times. Maggie Gyllenhaal was fine but she can do better and she didn't seem to really be trying. Julianne Moore had a couple of good scenes although she was a bit over the top and fake. Out of the supporting cast, Eva Mendes was surprisingly funny although she was only on screen for about ten minutes, maybe a little less. She was the only one who stuck out from that group. Overall, Trust the Man had a decent story although it couldn't generate genuine sympathy due to it's shallow and fake storyline. If you like any of the actors, it might be worth a rental although they all have better work out there. Rating 5/10