The Extra Man Movie Review (2010)

I haven’t been more disappointed in a film in a long time. My love for Paul Dano drove me to watch it, but The Extra Man never lived up to what it could have been.

When you start a film, you get a good feel for what it is going to be in the first 10 minutes. You pick up notes of comedy or sarcasm, you see the action or quiet military discussions on the phone – you understand the tone and feel of the ride you are getting on. But with this movie, I just felt duped.

The Extra Man is about aspiring writer (Louis), who has recently been forced to move, and is ultimately convinced to live with an eccentric man (Henry) renting an apartment in NYC. Louis is struggling with his desire to dress in women’s clothing (sometimes wondering if he would be more comfortable as a woman altogether) and Henry, who has lost a play that he has written, is a sexless bachelor who escorts older women to dinner and other social engagements as their “extra man” and not a real date.

I truly enjoyed the first 25 minutes of this film. The things that come out of Henry’s mouth are shockingly hilarious, sexist, and misogynistic. But since Louis has the same reaction as the audience, you are all in on the joke. For example, in casual conversation, Henry says, “How is Princeton these days? It was great once, but then they let women in. I’m against the education of women. It dulls their senses and affects their performance in the boudoir. The women I like best are the Hasidic women, they really get it.”

There is also a narrator who narrates the story, as if this is a book being written about Louis’ life. It is a seriously intriguing, provocative script with interesting characters who take themselves seriously, and some mystery about where they’ve been and where this is all going. Then it turns to crap.

There is the storyline about Louis taking old women out on their dime, but that isn’t the focus of the film. Everything Henry does is to pinch pennies (because he has none) and Louis is his pupil. What started as something kind of special starts going for extremely cheap laughs. The entire tone changes and it’s incredibly disappointing.

John C. Reilly, who plays a mystery man (is he homeless? What is he doing outside?), begins talking and his vocal pitch is an octave higher than it should be. In another film this could be funny, but in this one it’s just irritating and an incredibly cheap choice that kills the vibe.

There is a storyline about Henry doing (crazy) modern dance (alone) that later becomes a group effort on the beach, but it’s a big fail. There is a storyline (for about 10 seconds) about Henry behaving strangely towards Louis and Louis wondering if Henry is attracted to him, but it never comes up again. There is a storyline about Henry hurting his back and needing to use a vibrator to treat him. Second-rate choices that didn’t fit at all with the first act.

There is some enjoyment in meeting a few of the older women that Henry dates and in watching Louis grapple with his desire to wear lingerie, but again, it is all super inconsistent in tone and the odd choices that were played for cheap laughs made the rest sad and unenjoyable.

I love Paul Dano and I loved him in this role (because he stayed true to the character), plus Kevin Klein made an excellent Henry, but I wish the script and directorial choices had done better by them. And by us.

Runtime: 108 minutes

Motion Picture Rating: R

Languages Spoken In The Film: English

Should You Watch It? No, skip it

Did I Cry? Nope

My Rating: 1.5/5 Stars

Available: On Prime Video or may be available for free on other streaming platforms