My Super Ex-Girlfriend (21 July 2006)
directed by Ivan Reitman
starring Uma Thurman, Luke Wilson, Anna Faris, Rainn Wilson, Eddie Izzard, Stelio Savante, Mike Iorio, Mark Consuelos, Wanda Sykes
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MPAA rating: Studio: Regency Enterprises, Pariah Script: Don Payne Music: Teddy Castellucci Running time: 95 minutes Tags: Comedy; evil masterminds; meteors; Romance; superheroes Tactical strength: [5/10]
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for sexual content, crude humor, language and brief nudity
With the recent release of Superman Returns , I wondered how a superhero comedy would fare in theaters. Even if My Super Ex-Girlfriend had the greatest script in the world, releasing in the shadow of the real thing seemed unwise. My Super Ex-Girlfriend doesn't have the greatest script, but it does provide a nice, light romantic comedy that delivers a lot more laughs than this summer's previous romantic comedy The Break Up.
Jenny (Uma Thurman) didn't always have superpowers, but in high school, a strange meteor infused her with an odd radiation that turns her into G-Girl. G-Girl seems to have similar powers to Superman, although we never see her use X-Ray Vision. Like any superhero, Jenny keeps her alter-ego secret, but she still wants to have a relationship with a man. When Matt (Luke Wilson), a regular guy, recovers Jenny's purse from a subway snatcher, Jenny thinks he just might work as her boyfriend. Matt likes Jenny at first, but she seems a bit neurotic. On their first date, Jenny makes two trips to the restroom -- one to extinguish a building fire, another to clean a soot smudge off her face. After Matt sees a car hit Jenny without any effect and later the criminal mastermind Professor Bedlam (Eddie Izzard) kidnaps Matt, Jenny reveals to Matt that she is G-Girl. In spite of this revelation, Matt decides that he wants to break things off with Jenny to pursue other interests -- in this case, his co-worker Hannah (Anna Faris). Jenny doesn't take rejection well, and she uses her powers to make Matt's life a living hell.
Director Ivan Reitman, who brought us hits like Ghostbusters and Stripes, knows how to handle comedy, and he takes full advantage of Uma Thurman's abilities as an action character. My Super Ex-Girlfriend borrows many scenes from the original Superman movies. When G-Girl takes Matt flying above the city, Matt reacts nervously to the height. I find Matt's reaction much more plausible than a reasonably calm Lois Lane flying with Superman. Scenes like this one make Ex-Girlfriend more of a spoof than a send-up of superhero movies -- more Scary Movie than Shaun of the Dead
The script does a good job at thinking through a lot of the situations for superhero-human relationships, but spends a bit too much time developing the sexual characteristics of such relationships. We see three lengthy sex scenes and one brief scene in a flashback. With only 95 minutes running time that makes about fifteen percent of the total time spent on sex, which seems excessive and used up time that could have brought one or two extra laughs.
