The real dilemma doesn't have anything to do with infidelity, or living up to some code of dude ethics. It's the tug of war going on with director Ron Howard as he struggles to decide if The Dilemma should be a comedy or an intensely personal drama. The casting would appear to lean towards the former, with comic heavyweight Vince Vaughn and...literal heavyweight Kevin James playing a pair of long time best friends and business partners. The script, however, fights against this natural urge for shtick, and places the two comedians smack dab in a world where marriage problems are very real and the consequences painful.
Despite some people having misgivings about Ron Howard helming a film like this, you have to remember who he is as a filmmaker. This is the same guy who gave us Parenthood back in 1989, a brilliant dramedy that found humor in the daily struggles of being a married parent. The Dilemma is decidedly darker than that film was, but Howard's choice to be director isn't completely out of left field. Ronny(Vaughn) and Nick(James) could've been refugees from Howard's 1986 film, Gung Ho. The two run a small business together designing car engines, who get the opportunity of a lifetime when they earn a deal with Chrysler to build a muscled starter for their line of electric cars. The pressure to succeed in this new, possibly lucrative deal adds all sorts of new tensions to the relationships with the women in their lives. Jennifer Connelly, looking as exquisite as ever, is Beth, Ronny's longtime girlfriend. The perfectly cast Winona Ryder is Nick's wife, Geneva. Ronny's feeling pressured into proposing marriage to Beth, while Nick and Geneva are in a rut.
The four are as close as friends can get, but secrets lurk underneath all the smiles. Tensions mount when Ronny discovers by chance that Geneva has been sleeping around with a hunky dufus named Zip(Channing Tatum). The guy code demands that Ronny tell his best friend what's going on, and on the surface it seems like an easy enough decision. The dilemma is exactly how does one go about it? Ronny's got some pretty good reasons to hold back, starting from the fact that his scandalous wife will simply deny it, as evidenced by a perfectly pitched scene in which Geneva shows Ronny exactly how a few teardrops can turn a man's knees to jelly. Plus, if he does reveal Geneva's infidelity, he and Nick can kiss that Chrysler deal goodbye. Suddenly, everything's not so simple.
Deeper secrets and personal demons further complicate the issue, most of which are treated with appropriate seriousness and authenticity. The problem arises when the script tries so hard to jam Vaughn and James into their typical funnyman roles when it doesn't make sense. For instance, a misguided attempt to spy on Geneva and Zip turns into a drug enhanced brawl involving blowtorches and dead pet fish. It's too ridiculous to fit in the serious world the film has created for itself.
On the other hand, the story wanders into brilliance when you least expect it. In particular, a scene in which Ronny finally feels the full weight of the secret he carries, and realizes that the consequences of revealing it may be more than he's willing to risk. I love the way each of the four principle characters have a unique relationship with eachother. Jennifer Connelly can make anybody look good, but Vaughn more than holds his own with her. Their relationship is the most interesting to me by far. Ronny has a troubled past which makes his secretive behavior troubling, but Beth's got some trust issues of her own. The scene stealer by far is Ryder as Beth, a flawed character who casually rips apart Ronny's idyllic view of marriage. Kevin James is kinda left out in the dust. His character is basically a walking plot point, but I never felt like he was developed enough to be as interesting as everyone else.
The Dilemma is a good movie that could've been a great one. It's just a tonal shift away from being one of the best January movies we've seen in awhile. Although not perfect, The Dilemma is better and more ambitious than your typical romantic comedy, and it deserves plenty of credit for that.
