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I'm undecided about the movie, but would never rule out seeing it. (Yeah, the easy way out: rental.)
First of all the idea that Don Cheadle’s character, Alan, never had any contact with Charlie during the decade leading up to 9/11 makes no sense: they were college roommates and friends who were both practicing dentists in Manhattan, but Alan only thinks about contacting him five years after 9/11 because he sees him on the street? And why does Alan have no other male friends? Why do we never see him discussing Charlie with anyone other than his wife?
The beautiful but totally crazy woman who threatens to bring sexual assault charges on Alan for spurning her advances in his dental office is invited back to his office to discuss the problem alone! (Yea, right.) Then we discover that, not only does this crazy woman have the same therapist as Charlie (how clever) but Alan and this therapist set Charlie up with crazy woman at the end of the film -- despite the fact that Charlie has millions of dollars to exploit, and the woman has already proven to be capable of blackmail.
But, you see, in Hollywood world, Charlie just needs to get laid, then all his problems will be solved! Of course anyone who has taken Psych 101 knows that people suffering from such severe depression and post traumatic stress disorder are in no shape for any kind of relationship.
Charlie pulls a gun on a police officer (suicide by cop) and spends only three days in psychiatric evaluation, and is released. This is laughable. Here we have an emotional wreck of a man who has retreated the maturity of his teenage years, who cannot even sit in court without headphones to block out images of his family --- and the judge tells his ex-parents in-law that he'll let them decide his fate. The judge also goes out of his way to insult the lawyer representing New York State as well as Charlie's best friend and legal guardian for no reason.
I wish the director cared about presenting a realistic drama about devastating loss. But this film was a waste of Cheadle and Sandler's talents. Who the hell approves these scripts anyway?
especially ADAM sandler