less than average movie, above average acting

After hearing about the movie The Extra Man through fellow blogger Tarver, I was determined to watch it because one of my favorite actors, Paul Dano, stars in it. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed after watching it. The story follows main character Louis Ives who leaves his teaching job at Princeton and moves to Manhattan. There, he moves in with Henry Harrison, an old playwright, who becomes a sort of mentor to Louis. Henry teaches Louis how to become an "extra man" : someone who accompanies wealthy, older women. Along the way, Louis meets a slew of interesting people as well as confronts his crossdressing issues.

Both Paul Dano and Kevin Kline (who plays Henry) do a very good job playing their roles. Dano is convincing as a confused 30-year-old who is just searching for affection, and Kline plays the perfect mysterious, old heartbreaker. However, the movie runs short as far as intriguing plots go. I finished watching the movie thinking "That's it?" There were a couple of characters, including a quirky next door neighbor and an eccentric 92-year-old wealthy woman, that I would have liked to have seen a little more character development from. I also felt like the relationship between Henry and Louis never got to the point that I was waiting for.

Although I only give this movie about a 2.5 stars out of 5, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't give it a try. Give it a go. Who knows, it may become your new favorite movie.

Check out the trailer here.