The Ex (2006)
"Fast Track" (original title)

A slacker is forced to work for his father-in-law after his pregnant wife steps away from her high-paying job.

Director:

Jesse Peretz

Writers:

David Guion, Michael Handelman

Stars:

Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Zach Braff	...	Tom Reilly
Amanda Peet	...	Sofia Kowalski
Jason Bateman	...	Chip Sanders
Charles Grodin	...	Bob Kowalski
Mia Farrow	...	Amelia Kowalski
Lucian Maisel	...	Wesley
Donal Logue	...	Don Wollebin
Amy Poehler	...	Carol Lane
Fred Armisen	...	Manny
Bob Stephenson	...	Doug
Yaffit Hallely	...	Woman (as Yafit Hallely)
Josh Charles	...	Forrest Mead
Marin Hinkle	...	Karen
Yul Vazquez	...	Paco
Michael Lawson	...	Busboy

Storyline

In Manhattan, Sofia's an attorney and Tom's a cook who has a hard time holding a job. When their first child is born, they agree that she'll be a full-time mom and he'll get a promotion. When he gets fired, he takes a job in Ohio working at the ad agency where her father is assistant director. Tom's assigned to report to Chip, a competitive, hard-driving guy who's in a wheelchair and who's Sofia's ex-boyfriend - from high school. Chip still carries a torch for her, so he connives to make Tom's work life miserable. As Tom's frustrations mount, it may be that Sofia will take Chip's side. Is Tom doomed to fail yet again?

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Plot Keywords:

cook | wheelchair | father in law | cheerleader | restaurant owner | 

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Taglines:

On January 19, it's not business, it's personal.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

11 May 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Ex

Filming Locations:

Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,394,229 (USA) (11 May 2007)

Gross:

$3,091,922 (USA) (6 July 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Weinstein Company, The, 2929 Productions, This Is That Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min 93 min (European Film Market) 84 min (unrated) 84 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Charles Grodin's first film role in 13 years.

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Goofs

During the Family barbeque, Sophia's mom is seen sitting down and holding Oliver, then the shot switches and we see her from a different angle and she is holding the baby differently. This happens several times within the scene

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Quotes

Tom Reilly: Market penetration strategy. Something that's very important to today's youth market: penetration.

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Crazy Credits

"Harold and the Purple Crayon" by Crockett Johnson is published by HarperCollins, but the credits write it as "Harpers Collins."

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Connections

Features WWE Smackdown! (1999)

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Soundtracks

"Magnum"
Written by Jimmy Kaleth
Courtesy of APM Music

User Reviews

Mediocre comedy

Zach Braff ("Scrubs"), Amanda Peet ("Studio 60..") and Jason Bateman ("Arrested Development") help this little film just over the "average" bar. Even though their characters are pretty shallow, they put in a good performance and partly succeed in making you forget about the shabby script. There are a couple of funny moments, but without this cast the movie would have fallen apart, its strictly formulaic approach and lack of any inspiration just being too obvious. It's not as bad as "The Last Kiss", but Braff should choose his options more wisely, unless he wants his well-deserved Garden State acclaim to go down the drain.

Recommended only for fans of the above-mentioned stars, the rest of you is not missing out on anything.