How to Lose Your Lover

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on March 18, 2006

Final Grade: B

I believe there is something to be said about the recent slue of romantic comedies to emerge from the depths of Hollywood’s money hungry elite. They have very often become event films, meant to draw a man and his date out of the confines of a creative evening on the town and into a show where men are put on trial for their inabilities in love. When you look at films like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Hitch, or even the very recent Failure to Launch you see an assortment of films that expose men as clumsy, incapable, and severely unlikely heroes in love. This seems to be the one factor that links all romantic comedies together, the screenwriter’s play on a man’s idiocy in his pursuit of love, laughter and happiness. It is often both entertaining and despicable in a very seamless way.

How to Lose Your Lover, a film directed by Jordan Hawley, whose previous notoriety comes from penning various episodes of ephemeral television sitcoms, is a film that does not try to hide what it truly is: another romantic comedy with intentions of making its hero look like the most inept man of love in the entire world, and then bring him back to his reality and deliver love to his doorstep with only a few minor bumps and bruises to his formally large ego.

It is the story of Owen, played by Paul Schneider (The Family Stone, Elizabethtown), a Los Angelino biographer whose talent for diluting the lives of celebrities could often be confused with his ability to dilute and pilfer the facts of his own life. Owen has spent much of his 7 years living in L.A. lying to his friends and his lovers, but most of all to himself. Almost halfheartedly, Owen decides that it is time to put his old life to rest after gaining closure on his most recent long term relationship. This decision leads him into a quick downward spiral, one that involves divulging his brutally honest views to all those around him, a tirade that leaves him without friends, job, and shelter.

With his life completely obliterated by the truth, Owen is set to leave for the East coast, where a new job and a brand new lease on life await. Unfortunately for Owen, the forces of Karma seemed to have other plans. While boarding his flight out of his own self-inflicted hell he meets Val, played by Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein), a friend of his ex who has recently been equally as dumped on in love. After a few drinks and some conversation, Owen realizes that he has done something terrible by falling for Val, which leaves him with a reason to stay. He knows that without failing in his relationship with Val, he will not be able to move on and create a new life, so he must try to do anything possible to test his newfound affection and see if Val is worth sticking around for…

I expected this film to fall right in line with previously mentioned successful romantic comedies that I have seen over the past few years. This film does not disappoint in its ability to tell that same old “guy meets girl, guy loses girl, guy wins girl back” story. The interesting part about this film is in how it sings the same old tune with a new cynical flair and a little bit of extra creativity. The character of Owen is your average guy who is fed up with his life, and tired of lying to everyone in it in an effort to make things go as smoothly as possible. He is not your average romantic comedy hero in the sense that he is a recovering alcoholic and generally a very despicably guy, but he shows that he does have a heart in certain points throughout the film. Owen’s journey through self discovery is one that has rarely been seen before, at least not to my knowledge. His intention is to destroy all of the bonds that hold together his shallow West Coast life and escape what he thinks is an unaccomplished existence. And contrary to your average romantic leading man, where the journey spirals to a climactic revelation of some sort, Owen’s journey just continues to spiral until the absolute last moment where as a writer Hawley throws in a very well planned and insightful twist.

And while How to Lose Your Lover easily sells itself as a unique and quirky love story, what stuck out to me were the performances from a relatively unknown cast. Paul Schneider delivers the character of Owen a very neurotic and uncanny manner, and his often intelligent rants about life are overshadowed by his naive sense of accomplishment as he walks through his life burning bridge after bridge along the way. He is flanked by the very endearing performance of Poppy Montgomery (The Other Sister), who plays Owen’s best friend and confidant Allison. Her performance draws us in with her very dry, sarcastic persona, then we fall in love with her subtle innocence. The movie is also enriched with the performances of Westfeldt, who brings the character of Val a very alluring innocence that draws Owen in making it that much harder for him to leave and Fred Willard (Anchorman) who plays Bucky, a washed up, immoral astronaut for whom Owen is writing a biography. Willard’s moments in the film provide a lite amount of raunchy comedy that offsets the otherwise sappy theme of this film. The best part about this cast is that they truly embody their roles. None of them may ever be heralded as astounding talents, but in this film they were very well chosen and they give the movie a very immense sense of believability.

From a technical aspect, the DVD is nominal. It features a decent transfer of an average film in terms of visual style. I can’t say that this film was more than a forgettable visual experience, but the story holds it above water. In a movie filled with dialogue the 5.1 surround mix seems non-existent and adds very little to the overall ambiance of the film. When it comes to special features there is very little. Director commentary which is actually pretty interesting is offset by a lack of behind the scenes featurettes. There are a few deleted scenes, but it is easy to tell why they did not make it into the final cut of the film.

As far as romantic comedies go I am usually one to look past the shallow sense of reality and enjoy the humor and the endearing plots, but How to Lose Your Lover really delivers so much more than your average “chick flick.” The tale is uniquely put together by the director, and the journey of its main character is one to which all guys can relate. It not only delivers laughs, but it truly brings insightful revelations about friendship, love and honesty to the screen in the form of a man at his wits end with the world. Combine that with a well selected cast of role players and you get what is easily one of the most fun and obscure comedy to hit shelves thus far in 2006.

The Upside:
A unique and quirky romantic comedy that balances laughs and worldly insight to win over just about any date night moviegoer.
The Downside:
The production value of your average television sitcom, but with a better story and more accurately cast actors.
On the Side:
Tori Spelling plays an annoyingly sensual lesbian who is always willing to prove that her love life is almost as hopeless as that of Owen.

Breaking down the DVD:
The Film: B+
The Delivery: C
The Extras: C-

DVD Stats:
Release Date: March 14, 2006
Starring: Paul Schneider, Jennifer Westfeldt, Poppy Montgomery, Fred Willard
Directed by: Jordan Hawley
Writing Credits: Jordan Hawley (written by)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
MPAA Rating: R for language and some sexuality.
Country: USA
Run Time: 95 min.
Studio: New Line Home Video

Click here to read more reviews by Neil Miller

Technorati: Movie Review, Hollywood, Entertainment, Film, Cinema, DVD Review, Romantic Comedy, Romance, Comedy, Love, Sex, Los Angeles

Read more articles by Neil Miller