Much better than expected.

Rating: 8/10 (27 January 2007)

I guess I should have known and yet I didn't. I didn't hear much of anything about this one at all. The kids wanted to see it, so when it came around to the local discount theater, we piled up the car and went. I didn't know who the other members of the cast were and I didn't know it would go deeper than a fluff comedy. The silliness that most often accompanies Will Farrell was understated and quite nicely subtle. Maggie Gyllenhaal is fabulous and the other characters have to suffer with the likes of: Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson and Queen Latifa (that was written to be decidedly tongue in cheek). All three were solid with Dustin Hoffman and Queen Latifa also playing their roles (which could have been camped up and over the top) not in any way those things. Emma Thompson gets to put a bit of a screwball twist on her character. I had absolutely no expectations of this movie and found myself very entertained. Two thoughts occurred to me as I watched-one: "this is why these actors are great" and two: "that was a clever turn of a phrase." A much smarter film than I thought I'd be seeing.