User Reviews

Of all of the zany ideas for Hollywood romantic comedies, this one has to be one of the strangest.

A couple, Calvin and Lauren, falls in love, but the relationship is built around an infidelity competition. The couple will test their best friends who will be seduced by a stranger. If the majority of the guinea pigs reject the seduction and remain faithful, then Calvin and Lauren will remain permanently in their relationship. But if the test subjects succumb to their lust, then the Calvin-Lauren relationship will end in six months. What a bummer of a compact for an interpersonal relationship?

After setting out this inane premise, the filmmakers do not even execute it very well. The comedy should have been based on the five competitions where the five couples are tested. But as we approached the "last" test for Calvin's friend Jacob, I had only counted three previous tests that had taken place. Either the filmmakers goofed and forgot one of the five tests...or I lost interest somewhere along the way...or both!

The film had a spark of potential because the two leads had some chemistry at those rare moments when they were not obsessing on their competition. Still, Chris Klein overacted his role of Calvin, while Thora Birch underacted her interpretation of Lauren. It was as if Klein was back in one of his "American Pie" farces, while Birch was recycling her moody daughter character in "American Beauty."

There is earlier film called "The Competition" from 1980, which is about the rivalry of two concert pianists. That film involves a real competition, it includes some light-hearted moments, and it is still an eminently watchable film today. Unfortunately, the more recent competition film included some lovely footage of Portland, Oregon, but never rose to the level of either a memorable romance or a comedy.

I enjoyed the whole film, but its the sort of film that will be publicly polarising.

I like the direction and humour of where it could go, but my biggest issue is that the character narratives were lacking to make them believable. If they were both thirty-somethings that were single, they should be demonstrating more emotional baggage or brittleness.

Calvin, while playing true to the actors previous success, is understandable as a twenty-something blind romantic optimist (punching bag), but as a thirty-something character he lacks depth and complexity. Emotionally it never fully justifies why he was single. Work and right person are superficial excuses that deflect something deeper. His approach to proposing the challenge seems oddly childish and cruel especially since his reputation was seen as a successful negotiator and advocate. IMO nice guys eventually change, they either get bitter (magnets for trouble), or become more cautious, or they become wise. Also his loyalty to Jacob seemed odd. The justification for Gena and Calvin continued platonic friendship seemed lacking. Overall Calvin seemed two dimensional and immature.

Its one thing for Lauren to be a guarded character, but the story never emotionally justifies the reason for her to develop the PIG theory and the reason to practice and commit to it. 2 million followers might seem relevant to some people, but it does not seem compatible with her character. A person obsessed with social media would express more attachment to their online profile. The logical "self-evident fact" of PIG seems emotionally lacking with conviction, especially after she practices it for 3 years yet changes her heart for Calvin. Also it never justifies why she wishes for things to be different with Calvin or what Calvin offers that no other person did previously. On occasion Lauren seems bratty and insecure twenty-something, instead of a driven thirty-something character. Overall Lauren seemed incomplete.

Also Gena character and her continued reasoning to change Lauren seems vague at best.

Personally, I would have added a scene that where Jacob, Lauren and Calvin are arguing. Calvin argues something idealistic. Jacob and Lauren are pragmatic and disagree with Calvin. Jacob recognises a kindred in Lauren and expresses conflict of attraction vs loyalty. Lauren recognises that Calvin is someone she can trust or someone that inspires her to change for the better.

Also IMO both characters should be workaholics. As both research scientists and lawyers work stupidly excessive hours (80+ hrs a week). It seems odd that they could have so much free time for their personal relationship.

The acting was good. Thora's portrayal was nuanced (conflicted, brittle and guarded) that was suitable for the role. Was happy with the acting of the minor characters, they helped to enhance the protagonists (by being generic). I thought that Chris Klein (or the director) could have pushed himself more and experimented, I kept having flash backs of Chris in their other previous film roles. I think both of the main actors were good and hope to see them progress further in their craft in future projects.

Overall film it was an average film that was personally enjoyable but not for everyone.