The Dilemma

Review by Anthony Morris

Ronnie (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Kevin James) are best buddies. Not only that, they have their own car engineering business together.

They go on double dates; Nick with his wife (Winona Ryder), Ronnie with his girlfriend (Jennifer Connolly) - they're basically joined at the hip. 

So when Ronnie catches Nick's wife making out with another man (Channing Tatum), he has a problem.  

Not as big a problem as The Dilemma does though, as it stumbles from comedy to drama and back again without ever really settling on a consistent tone. 

There's nothing wrong with walking a fine line between laughs and drama, but (for starters) the drama here is clumsy and contrived.

Ronnie doesn't simply confide in his girlfriend with what's going on (despite having no reason not to - the film even says they're not close friends), instead acting crazy around her so she thinks his old gambling problem has flared up. 

When Ronnie confronts Nick's wife, she promptly becomes - for one scene only - an evil, manipulative monster, again so he has no choice but to run around like a nutter trying to gather evidence against her. 

So the comedy side of things largely relies on Vaughn acting like an idiot in front of his loved ones for no logical reason, which occasionally gets a smile but is largely just annoying because it's basically just him riffing until the camera runs out of film. 

Maybe if this was played as a totally straight character drama it might work. 

After all, every main cast member gets at least one dramatic scene they play to the hilt. But this wants to be funny for the guys and serious for the girls, and just ends up being nothing for anyone.

2 out of 5

The Dilemma
Australian release: 13th January, 2011
Official Site: The Dilemma
Cast: Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder, Channing Tatum, Queen Latifah
Director: Ron Howard