You Stupid Man (2002)

I should have known You Stupid Man was tainted because it stars Denise Richards (not nearly a sign of Oscar material). What I didn’t know is that it was doomed because of every actor and writer involved. For romantic comedy, it is hard to go lower in my book than The Forty Year Old Virgin (where a pack of boors tries to lower nice-guy Andy to their level). You Stupid Man goes there, in spades. I had higher hopes for this movie but absolutely everything David Krumholtz’s character says and does is the absolute wrong, boorish thing. Fine, if the goal is to witness a must-see train wreck in motion, but the story takes his character seriously and he wants to find true love. Milla’s character is his gal-pal who lends a continually sympathetic ear and shoulder (and, ultimately, more), but he is so smitten with Denise’s character’s self-absorbed and pathetic excuse for a personality that it’s a puzzle how the final ten minutes of this film morph into a happy ending. For him, maybe, but not for me. My rating would have been a very rare 1 star (I hate it) but the happy ending redeems it a bit to 2 stars (I don’t like it). Granted, I do not enjoy men who are cardboard cutouts or obnoxious boors with women, but your mileage may vary and you might like it. Do you feel lucky? (5-5-2016)