for language, sexual content

July 21, 2006

By CHRIS VOGNAR / The Dallas Morning News

Regency Entertainment Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson star in "My Super Ex-Girlfriend."

We've all heard stories about a jilted lover dressing down an ex in public, or maybe even scrawling a few scornful words on a car door (no worries; it washed off nicely). But before My Super Ex-Girlfriend, I had never seen a wounded woman hurl a great white shark through the window of her replacement's apartment. He's a big sucker, too, flopping around, gnashing his teeth at the couch, and generally making a shark of himself.

Two lessons learned: Dump a superheroine at your own risk. And animatronic sharks sure have come a long way since the days of Jaws.

This willingness to wade in the waters of absurdity goes a long way toward stretching the sketch comedy of Super into modest entertainment. It may be thinner than its star, Uma Thurman, and its mean streak gives cause for pause (man, are women crazy or what?). But the picture's streamlined silliness and occasional pearl of dating game wisdom makes it worth a date, if not a second engagement.

If you thought Batman was neurotic, wait'll you get a hold of G-Girl. An ex-art history major who thrives on dueling impulses of insecurity and emotional manipulation, she's about as frumpy as Ms. Thurman can get (which, it must be said, isn't very frumpy). But when she senses trouble on the mean streets of New York, she whips off her brown wig and glasses and flies into Amazon mode, her flowing blond locks trailing her myriad heroics. Yes, this is a superheroine created by dudes (veteran comedy director Ivan Reitman and writer Don Payne), and it reflects masculine fantasies, frustrations and desires. So sue us.

Mr. Reitman's best casting stroke was tapping Luke Wilson, the hangdog of Dallas' Wilson brothers, opposite Ms. Thurman. Brows furrowed, eyes weary, Mr. Wilson's Matt is a passive anti-romantic straight from screwball comedy central casting. This quality plays well against the high-flying G-Girl and her alter ego, a nervous Nellie named Jenny Johnson.

Eddie Izzard has some fun with Bedlam, the supervillain Jenny dumped back in high school when she got her superpowers from a meteor. Anna Faris is Matt's co-worker and true love. Rainn Wilson, who did a hilarious turn on Entourage as a spiteful movie blogger, is Matt's wannabe Casanova buddy who can't believe Matt gets to sleep with a superheroine.

Ah, yes, the super sex. G-Girl not only can leap tall buildings in a single bound; she also can knock a headboard through the wall. As Mr. Wilson's head disappears and reappears through the top of the frame, we're reminded that Mr. Reitman is the man behind Meatballs and Stripes. It may be a fun twist on the male libido, but don't expect to ponder its gender implications on the way out of the theater.