Neil LaBute's directorial debut is a ferociously brutal black comedy. It follows Chad and Howard who devise a plan to ruin an innocent woman's romantic future to get payback for all the times women have hurt them. Much like Closer, the characters' actions are almost too cruel to be real. But it is funny--hilarious most of the time--and provides great insight into society, male female interactions, and the drive for success. The acting is fantastic, as well as most of the dialogue. It turns very psychological very quickly: you never really know who's playing who. The thematics match well with interesting and effective cinematic techniques. For example, the intertitles announcing the week number with jungle music in the background work on numerous levels. They pace the film and excite the audience as the piece builds to a climax; the choice of music is also essential in creating the audience's subconscious association of a workplace and all social interactions as a jungle, where men and women return to primal urges and instinctive self-preservation mechanisms. The decision to make the woman be deaf and how it plays out in the final scene make the movie smarter than it looks.But it looks awful. The compositions were forced, the colors were garish, and the camera movements were either nonexistent and unexciting or minimalist and uneventful. The dialogue sometimes strayed into inane babble about nothing, which I guess could stand as a statement about men and their egos, but it merely feels misplaced in its usage in this film. I felt some of the scenes at the end, with characters' lives spinning wildly out of control, was a bit exaggerated and unbelievable. A lot of the mannerisms, clothing, and interior designs really date the piece, although it's not severe enough to distract you too much. Anyway, highly recommended if you want a great foray into male-female interactions and the brutality that humans are capable of.
IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0119361/