182: Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (R) - 2009 - Runtime: 80 minutes
Starring: John Krasinski, Will Forte, Oh hell just look at the movie poster
Director: John Krasinski

I really don't like movies that have no discernible plot and are just a series of vignettes or just a series of scenes. And I was hoping that with such a great cast there would be some great interviews and stories being told, but the only thing I wanted to do at the end of the movie was take the disc out and toss it in a dumpster and then set the dumpster on fire.

That was harsh I know, but I just hated this movie. I don't know what I was thinking when I sat down to watch this movie, but it didn't offer any insight into the brain of the male species (and as a male I'm offended for my gender) or new, meaningful dialogue. The movie is just a series of random interviews by a grad school student who recently was cheated on. She's intrigued as to why her boyfriend did this to her and decides to get to the heart of men and their relationship towards women. It's all very pretentious and not very funny. It's a series of dull stories being told that all culminates at the end when said boyfriend (played by Krasinski) gives such a bullshit answer to why he cheated on her. He is a hideous man, no doubt, but it's just so anticlimactic and not very intriguing whatsoever.

The big problem with these movies and a lot of movies that take on gender issues (whether whimsical or seriously) is that they tend to generalize every single male or female. Like all-men-are-the-same jokes or theories. But to be honest, you can't just take a few assholes' opinions and stories and make an assumption as to their gender (same with race, religion, etc. ). It's stereotyping at best and I just can't get past the idea that this movie is just generalizing all these men into some formula. Yeah, some guys are dicks, but then there's a guy like me, who's a shining example to all men, even to the human race, how awesome and selfless and humble someone can be. Maybe I just don't get it because the title is all about "hideous" men, rather than just men, but I'll just assume I'm right and they're wrong.

But overall, there are a few stories that are interesting at best, but they tend to drag on and lose their luster or they end up turning sour. It's a tough eighty minutes to get through and you're better off philosophizing to your cat about the foibles of men than watching this dull traipse of a movie.

Rating: Avoid Like the Plague!