David O'Connell
Men in the City @ the Audi Festival of German Films
April 12th 2010 20:18
by Cibbuano
Living in the city is great - we live in relative security, there's movies playing every week, and, in NYC, you can buy 12 different kinds of grilled cheese sandwiches at 2 in the morning.
Well... sure, it's great, but there's something missing, especially if you're male. Living in a modern society requires men to abandon all the things that we've got buried deep down inside: anger, the propensity for violence, the need for superiority.
The things that are left? Uncertainty, shame, insecurity - and these are not qualities that endear us to the women that we desire.
"Men in the City", the newest film from Simon Verhoeven, depicts this issue, offering a movie about five men who all work out at the same gym, and who are all uniquely incapable of finding happiness in today's world.
Yes, they are losers, all of them. The obvious ones: a deadbeat who thinks he's too good for a job, the desperate romantic who turns off every woman he meets, and the angry, possessive husband who gets violent.
The last two are illusionary: one a successful, good-looking advertising executive, about to get married and buy a house. And last, a music producer, well-built and rich, sleeping with hordes of women and making commitments to no one.
It's an easy film to watch, quick-moving and amusing, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The story switches quickly from character to character, and even though each of the five men are rather 2-dimensional, added weight is provided by Verhoeven's patience, lingering on faces in closeup.
It's easy to see the confusion on their faces - each of them is inept, unprepared to deal with the modern world, and they're constantly told that they should be more romantic, more masculine, more relaxed, more successful. Well, it's not enough, apparently.
The film is a little clumsily structured, with the plot elements a little too farfetched, but I forgive all of this for the subject matter. Even though it has been done before, "Men in the City" is delightful, both comic and sad, and a fine, fine movie to watch with your partner, laughing beside you.
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