Friday, May 11, 2007

"The Ex," a stunningly insipid romance, marks an all-time low for actor Zach Braff -- his "Gigli," if you will.

When Braff starred in 2004's edgily original "Garden State," he was affecting and lovable. In last year's "The Last Kiss," he was already reprising that personality. Now, in "The Ex," he has evolved fully into a hologram of his former self, a nonentity ghost-walking his way through formulaic pablum.

He's Tom Reilly, a New Yorker and first-time dad who is married to Sofia (Amanda Peet) and can't hold a decent job. Forced to find ways to support his new family, he agrees to work in an Ohio advertising company with his father-in-law (Charles Grodin). But at work, he gets caught up in vindictive games of one-upmanship with wheelchair-bound colleague Chip (Jason Bateman), an old school chum of Sofia's who still nurses a crush on her.

With its cookie-cutter story, "The Ex" is far too bland for Braff fans seeking the earlier, funnier guy they remember; and it's too sexually risque for family audiences seeking something contemporary but wholesome. As Tom, Braff rolls out his now-trademark characteristics: hapless, adorable, perpetually flustered and bamboozled by life. But this time the charm -- not to mention the funniness -- has worn off. The movie, directed by Jesse Peretz, manages to insult every person in Ohio with its vaguely contemptuous depiction of that state's inhabitants. It has more references to baby poop than a few dozen so-you're-a-new-mom! videos. And it's a staggering mystery as to what attracted Braff, Peet, Grodin, Mia Farrow (as Peet's mother) and Amy Adams (from "Junebug") to this project.

-- Desson Thomson

The Ex PG-13, 89 minutes Contains profanity, crudity, slapstick violence and references to marijuana. Area theaters.