My Super Ex-Girlfriend is an amusing movie that lacks any real edge and takes no chances, playing it safe throughout. Consequently, while I enjoyed the movie while watching, it falls far short of being a classic.
Luke Wilson plays every-boring-man, Matt Saunders. He meets Jenny (Thurman) while riding the subway in New York (which is perhaps the most unbelievable aspect of the story, since the last thing I would ever call the subway is a pickup spot). Jenny is a mousy looking brunette who works as an assistant curator at an art gallery. And while at first she seems a little neurotic, it isn't until Jenny and Matt have sex for the first time that he begins to suspect she's more than just a little bit high-strung. Eventually Matt learns that Jenny is in fact G-Girl, the city's resident superhero. At first this is exciting for Matt, but he quickly learns that a better name for Jenny's alter-ego would be PMS-Woman. Matters are complicated by the fact that Matt is really in love with his co-worker, Hannah (Faris) and that G-Girl is being pursued by her arch-nemesis Professor Bedlam (Izzard).
Overall the cast is quite likable and talented, although the biggest mystery might be why bland Luke Wilson would be the center of a romantic tug-of-war between the vivacious Uma Thurman and the cute and perky Anna Faris. Thurman does a particularly good job playing both the nightmare girlfriend and the heroic G-Girl, being believable in both parts. Faris, who has yet to truly break out in a movie of her own, is as cute and bubbly as always. I think it's time she moved up to starring in her own romantic comedy. British comedian Eddie Izzard gets a few laughs as Bedlam, but as has been the case in all of his films so far, his real talent, as shown in his stand-up shows, has yet to be tapped on film.
The pacing of the movie is very quick and the laughs, while never gut-busting, come often enough to keep you amused. It just frequently seems there are opportunities missed. Rather than centering so much on the romantic comedy angle, a better movie might have been made that centers on G-Girl. With so many superhero movies coming out recently, it would seem that the genre would be ripe for more satire than this movie provides. The best jokes are those that focus on this part of the story, such as when Jenny refuses to stop a missile heading for New York because it would mean that she would have to leave Matt and Hannah alone together.
A good effort by those involved, but I was hoping for more.
