Trust The Man

A light-hearted meditation on the cares and commitments of adulthood, Bart Freundlich's rom-com drama is a witty, ultra-contemporary vision of urban love. Two Manhattan couples enjoy complicated relationships: Tom and Rebecca (David Duchovny and Julianne Moore) are a glamorous married couple with two kids and a troubled sex life; Rebecca's best friend, Elaine (Maggie Gylenhaal), is in a long-term relationship with Rebecca's brother, Tobey (Billy Crudup), who is also Tom's best friend. Tom has recently quit his advertising job to be a stay-at-home dad, and Rebecca is a successful actress with a depleting libido; thus, despite the couple's obvious closeness, Tom's porn consumption and general distraction have increased considerably. Meanwhile, Elaine juggles a stressful job in publishing and a fledgling career as a children's-book author, while Tobey's job as a copywriter is considerably less demanding. It is soon evident that Tobey has never quite grown up, and when Elaine decides that she wants to get married and have kids, she realizes she'll have to do it with someone else. The turmoil that ensues contains a number of hilarious, emotionally charged encounters between friends and lovers, and an undeniably romantic conclusion. The tale unfolds anecdotally in a style of verbal-sparring that recalls Woody Allen; so too does the preponderance of recognizable New York locations, in a view of the city that makes the most of its charms. The movie also boasts well-executed cameos by Ellen Barkin as an imperious publisher, James LeGros as an eccentric songster, Eva Mendes as a temptress from Tobey's past, and Garry Shandling as an earringed therapist.