Reviewed by Neil Davey
Stars Uma Thurman, Luke Wilson, Anna Faris,
Rainn Wilson, Eddie Izzard
Written by Don Payne
Produced by Gavin Palone & Arnon Milchan
Certification US PG-13 | UK 12A
Runtime 95 minutes
Directed by Ivan Reitman
It’s been a while since director Ivan Reitman did his concept comedy thing. He’s the man who virtually created the concept genre with movies such as Ghostbusters and Stripes — and then carried it to its extremes with things like Twins, Kindergarten Cop, and Junior — but he’s been out of the director’s chair for around five years. Now, he’s been persuaded to return with the very daft but very enjoyable My Super Ex-Girlfriend.
Matt Saunders (Luke Wilson) doesn’t have much success with the ladies. He’s a nice guy and all, and pretty co-worker Hannah (Anna Farris) seems to be flirting a lot but, unlike depraved best friend Vaughn (the excellent Rainn Wilson), Matt just doesn’t have the killer instinct and thick skin that a single man in New York needs. One day on the train, Vaughn encourages him to talk to the “repressed librarian” girl over there. He does, it doesn’t go well but one twist of fate later and Matt finds himself in a relationship with the girl. Her name’s Jenny Johnson and, while she’s a bit odd, she’s very sweet. A little possessive, mind, but mostly sweet. Quite demanding, in fact, but yes, really quite sweet. Sort of.
Some of Jenny’s eccentricity can be explained by her double life. She might look like a hot librarian but that’s an alter-ego, for Jenny is actually G-Girl, sexy superhero(ine) and defender of New York. But it doesn’t explain it all though and Matt eventually gets a little fed up with the demands and realises that, actually, he’s been in love with Hannah all the time. But how do you break up with a woman who’s as jealous as they come and can use all her superpowers to make your life a misery? And that is the central concept of this frequently very amusing comedy.
Thurman shows a surprising gift for comedy, keeping a lid on the character’s hysterics and providing some funny analysis of just how stressful a job superhero is. This is particularly evident in a scene where New York is about to be hit by a stray missile while G-Girl just wants to enjoy her gnocchi. The bickering between her and Wilson’s Matt — staring pointedly at his other half, suggesting that “someone should maybe go and do something” — is well drawn but the subtext gives it a delicious edge. All three leads — plus Rainn Wilson — are in fine form and rounding out the cast is Eddie Izzard as G-Girl’s nemesis Professor Bedlam in a mostly very funny performance. Things come to a strangely abrupt end and some of the comedy falls painfully flat but My Super Ex-Girlfriend is, for the most part, an undemanding and amusing bit of fluff.