Uma Thurman is a superhero, so this movie gets fifteen thumbs up. And the first half hour is pretty good. Luke Wilson plays a shallow nebbish who eff's her and can't wait to dump her for the similarly shallow character (played by always-adorable Anna Faris) who leads him on for the hell of it, even though she has a boyfriend and just uses Luke to feed her ego. No, no, I've got that all wrong.
Luke Wilson is a great guy, you see, and the Anna Faris character is a great girl. These are apparently the good people. Luke has a problem. His problem is that he needs to break up with his crazy girlfriend and he doesn't know whether to be a man and do it straight up, or try to weasel out of it. This being a light comedy and Luke such a lovable guy, he chooses to weasel out.
Now young Luke has another problem, his super ex-girlfriend is psycho and makes his life hell. He decides the only thing to do is finally sit down and tell her the truth and talk it out like adults. Oh, he doesn't? First he decided to trap his ex and expose her to kryptonite-like stuff. He will rob her of her powers, the world of its hero, because that is what is easiest for him, you see.
He is the protagonist of the movie, and isn't that how protagonists behave? Isn't that what Lois Lane would do in the same situation? She wouldn't? Hm. I don't understand this. Is this the bizarro world? Of course! That is it. This is an avant-garde film, at last we see the superhero-motif explored at movie-length from the p.o.v. of villains.
Maybe not, maybe I am giving the filmmakers too much credit.
Whatever their intention, Reitman and friends have made what is clearly the greatest superhero film of all time.
Uma Thurman uses her x-ray powers to somehow mine a vein of humanity from within her hatefully-written character, she proves invulnerable to cynically-contrived scenarios, and every moment she is on screen she has our sympathy and our affection; she soars above this shit, and only she has the strength to protect us from the foul misbegotten ill-conceived misdirection of effort entitled My Super Ex-Girlfriend.
For her pains, the filmmakers don't even bother to give her a name behind her super-initial. And I thought killing Bill was tough.
Uma Thurman is a superhero.
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