The only “dilemma” surrounding Vince Vaughn is the challenge other actors have to face when acting alongside him —Vaughn steals the show.
This was the case in Vaughn’s latest project, “The Dilemma,” which was directed by Ron Howard and also stars Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, Wynona Ryder, Channing Tatum and Queen Latifah.
The film was good. Vince Vaughn was fantastic. In fact, I shudder to think what this film would have been like without Vaughn around to carry it. The plot is simple enough. It asks the question: “What do you do when you catch your best friend’s wife with another man?” The answer seems obvious. You tell him. However, when the person facing this difficult task is a character played by Vaughn, you can bet that things get a little interesting.
Ronny (Vaughn) and Nick (James) are best friends who have known each other since college and now work together as innovators in the automobile industry. Their latest project is on the verge of being bought by a major automobile corporation. It attempts to give electric cars some of the “manliness” they don’t have (i.e. the feeling and sound of revving up a supercharged engine). Nick is the brains behind the invention, while Ronny is its silver-spooned spokesperson.
Meanwhile, Ronny is happy with his girlfriend, Beth (Connelly), but unsure about taking his relationship to the next level, while Nick is happily married to Geneva (Ryder). That is until, as fate would have it, Ronny catches her being a little too friendly with a young, handsome, tattooed rocker named Zip (Tatum). The dilemma for Ronny then becomes if he should tell his best friend and possibly ruin any hope they have of completing their ambitious project, or, attempt to keep this torturous secret inside in hopes that it’ll somehow work itself out.
A few minutes into the film it becomes clear that this is no ensemble film. It’s all about Vaughn. This doesn’t mean that the other actors were bad. Vaughn is just magnetic. Almost every word that comes out of his mouth causes laughter to erupt. It’s not just his wit and lightning-fast tongue lashes that make him incredibly funny and entertaining. He’s oddly tall and most of the time reacts to situations like a petulant child. One hilariously memorable scene involved a physical altercation between Ronny and Zip. In self-defense Ronny used a candle and a can of hairspray to attempt to burn Zip’s face off while maniacally screaming out his intentions to do just that.
Vince Vaughn is in a league that only a few other actors are in today. He’s in there with Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell as actors who most people will pay to see no matter what the film is, as long as it’s a comedy. Surprisingly enough, the next in line as funniest role in this film was Queen Latifah, who caused quite a few laughs as Ronny and Nick’s supervisor who seemed to possess more than her fair share of testosterone.
I can’t really say much for Ron Howard’s directing in this film. He didn’t really do anything that blew me away but maybe that’s a good thing. It probably means that he didn’t do a whole lot to interfere with the story and the strength of the film — Vaughn’s acting and improvised one-liners. However, he did a good job of instilling some emotion into the film by creating a beautiful friendship between Ronny and Nick. These friends share a special bond that becomes the real nucleus of the film.
While it’s not the next great frat-pack film, it’s still Vaughn doing what he does best. And while I’m hesitant to adorn this film with many praises, I also can’t really say anything bad about it. Anyone who goes in with only the expectations to have some laughs and be entertained for an hour and a half will be more than satisfied.
