By Amanda Ack, Film Critic
There’s nothing quite as painful as a film that tries to be all things to all audiences. Such is the case with If I Were You. Written and directed by Joan Carr-Wiggin with a truly infuriating lack of focus, it’s a muddled mess that aims to make us laugh and cry but only warrants a halfhearted shrug.
Marcia Gay Harden stars as “Madelyn,” a high-powered executive who accidentally spots her husband out with another woman. Through a series of bizarre and unlikely events, Madelyn befriends the mistress, who doesn’t realize that her new pal is her lover’s wife. Hijinks ensue.
The whole thing sounds like an ideal setup for a silly screwball comedy, and for a while, everything proceeds as expected.
It quickly becomes apparent that Carr-Wiggin’s goals are loftier than what the exposition suggests. She fills the film with sappy subplots that would be better suited to a Lifetime drama, bringing the energy down and robbing the story of its farcical charm.
It’s a shame, too, because for a while, the cast really seems to be having fun. Harden is a comic genius, expertly expressing her character’s distress in such a painfully truthful way that we laugh in spite of ourselves. Similarly skilled is Leonor Watling as the mistress, whose wide-eyed naïveté makes an excellent counterpoint to Harden’s darker presence.
With actors like these, If I Were You should have been a delight. As it stands, Carr-Wiggin is too focused on giving the film weight, making for a confusing and unsatisfying cinematic experience.
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