Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman made big waves with one of the best films of the 2000s, the brilliant comedy American Splendor, but spent the rest of that decade unable to rise to that level of artistic success again. (The less said about The Nanny Diaries the better.) They explore similar territory – the outcast and the importance of maintaining unique identity in a society that wants to make us all the same – in the inconsistent but entertaining The Extra Man. Driven by a spectacular performance from Kevin Kline and with witty dialogue by Pulcini, Berman, and Jonathan Ames (Bored to Death), The Extra Man often plays like an old-fashioned screwball comedy with a modern edge. It's a bizarre coming-of-age story in one sense, a tale of a young man learning to be himself by watching an older one completely unafraid to express his opinions, but Pulcini & Berman's work cuts its own path through the archetypes and delivers a unique comedy in the process.

Louis Ives (Paul Dano) is a troubled young man. He has been teaching at Princeton and spent his life hiding his true nature by repressing the fact that he's obsessed with women's clothing. He gets caught one day with the dean's bra in his hands and moves to New York after being fired. As he begins to try and develop a writing career, he becomes the roommate of Henry Harrison (Kevin Kline), a failed playwright with a very unique view of the world. Henry is an "extra man.” As women almost always out-live men, extra men are needed as escorts for older ladies who need dates for the theater, art gallery openings, etc. Some might call him a gigolo but Henry doesn't believe in sex without marriage and openly claims to be "to the right of the Pope” on such issues. He's an aristocrat in the sense that

The Expendables is incomprehensible, depressing, ugly, stupid, and a waste of a great casting opportunity. What's so frustrating about the film is that it should have been an easy sell – get together some of the greatest action stars of the last twenty years and let them do what they do best. But the film doesn't even accomplish that simple goal. With muddied direction that makes it impossible

Originality goes a long way for this critic. It seems to be a rarer and rarer commodity in an era of filmmaking in which most movies don't display a single unique thought or concept. Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is an imperfect film and can be downright frustrating sometimes but it contains enough flashes of genius to warrant your time and forgiveness of its flaws. It's

Taking a memoir about an international struggle for internal peace is a daunting task for any filmmaker. In written form, Elizabeth Gilbart was able to directly convey the feelings and experiences of the year abroad in which she learned to Eat Pray Love. Without constant narration, director Ryan Murphy is forced to try and translate those feelings to celluloid merely through the actions of his lead, a few

You don't have to have seen Step Up or its sequel to appreciate Step Up 3D. The story is familiar. Moose (Adam Sevani) travels to the city of dreams for many young performers – New York City – not to dance, but to attend New York University as an electrical engineering major. Although dazzled by the bright lights and excitement of the big city, Moose tries to dedicate

Will Ferrell wisely turned to regular collaborator Adam McKay (Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers) after the complete disaster that was last summer's Land of the Lost and the resulting comedy finds the star back in his wheelhouse, delivering the laughs that his fans have come to expect and even a few that they won't see coming. The Other Guys is unlikely to be anyone's favorite comedy of the

Frustrating, poorly-written, awkwardly-paced, and sometimes just plain dumb, Middle Men wants to join the subgenre of ensemble dramas about the seedy side of humanity that's led by Boogie Nights but doesn't have the personality or the style to do it. The story of a man who watched his life fall apart while he was busy making millions off the birth of internet pornography sounds like one

If someone were to make a list of the least-expected sequels of all time, Todd Solondz's follow-up to Happiness, Life During Wartime, would have to be on that list. Considering the relatively disappointing Storytelling and Palindromes, what's equally-as-unexpected is the dramatic effectiveness of Solondz's most heartfelt and un-ironic film to date. Instead of that layer of irony and self-conscious filmmaking that has permeated his last few films, Solondz

What could possibly break a man down so completely that he would choose to leave the civilized world behind and take on the life of a hermit? The question is the driving force of Aaron Schneider's Get Low, the based-on-a-true-story tale of a man who desperately grabbed at one final chance to find forgiveness, redemption, and confession before he "got low" six feet underground. Driven by a stunning

With much in common with Shallow Grave and Deathtrap, the UK thriller The Disappearance of Alice Creed seems very likely to build a loyal indie following due to its uniquely clever set-up. Much like Danny Boyle's film, it's a twisting and turning tale of deception that heralds the arrival of a talented new director. It features a few rookie mistakes, but there's a lot to like in this