Hey folks, Harry here with J-Man and his infiltration of this advance screening of MAN ABOUT TOWN. Now this is very early in the screening process for the film, so things can change and often times do - so remember that as your read what this moment in history was for this particular viewer of Affleck's MAN ABOUT TOWN...
Hi, Harry. J-Man here. Last night at the Pacific Place 11 here in Seattle they had a test
screening of a new Ben Affleck movie "Man About Town". We were told it was the first
screening anywhere, and that it was a workprint.. blah blah. It looked, if not complete,
then pretty damn close. Anyway, here goes:
Affleck plays Jack Giamoro, a talent agent in the entertainment field. His wife (Rebecca
Romijn) of 4 years admits to having an affair which she assures him is over. The man she
cheated with is actually Jack's biggest client, Phil something-or-other.. I forget his last
name. But, so Jack immediately wants to drop the guy, while everybody else at the
agency says no; "You're taking this really personal". Funny line, considering. At the
same time Jack is trying to land a new client, an actor played by Jerry O'Connell,
who's holding out, for reasons not made clear, and it doesn't really matter anyway.
Everything leads Jack to a little bit of "self exploration" in the form of a journal writing
course, taught by John Cleese (very VERY funny).
You've probably already pretty much got a feel for what this movie is. Jack ruminates
on his childhood, career and life in general to figure out how he got where he is thru the
journal writing stuff. All presented in "American Beauty"-esque voice-over. Will he reconcile
with his wife? Will he finally land the other client? Will he make it through class?
One guess.
The film has its moments, though. I liked the scene where husband and wife talk about
not separating -- "I wish you knew how small it all was, so you know how little it all meant" -- on
opposites sides of an aquarium. The dentist's office scene is a wee bit overplayed, but the
payoff with Jack's first day back at the office is funny as shit. Plus, we do get a stunning
glamour pose from ex-Mrs. Stamos; god she's hot. Rojimn is quite good in the film. She's
not playing the typical wife who messed up, so she's easy to hate and then fades into
the background, only to resurface later once the protagonist has gone through all his
other life experiences and grown, and then she wants him back. She's a woman who
seems genuinely determined to work it out. I thought her initial apology scene in tears
was heartfelt. Not fake in the least; both actors say just what needs to be said, and
nothing more.
The movie isn't perfect. For the survey, afterward, they had us fill out opinion sheets
on what worked and what didn't. I say take out the Chinatown Showdown (as it were),
and you lose absolutely nothing. Also, there's an animation sequence which looks too
good for animation that's not supposed to be there. So, I guess it is. But, it serves no
purpose. So, I would lose those bits.
And, I haven't a clue how the director, Mike Binder, managed to pull all the story threads
together for the third act -- especially over a re-enactment of the interrogation scene from
"Basic Instinct" -- but, he does.
Overall, recommended. Not terrible. Not great. The movie doesn't have a rating, yet,
but should get an R, for language.
Hope this helps!
J-Man
