Mickey Fitzpatrick is the elder of the brother but he’s become something of an underachiever and a drifter. He’s currently working as a taxi driver, a job that doesn’t impress he father and certainly doesn’t impress his younger brother Francis who is something a young whiz kid hot-shot on Wall Street.

One day Mickey picks up a fare, a young beautiful girl, who’s going to JFK and in an unlikely but wholly enjoyable turn of events ends up driving the fare New Orleans and then marrying her only days after meeting. This doesn’t impress Frances one bit and he accuses Mickey of being irresponsible. Frances’ problem with Mickey’s new found love might have something to do with the fact that he is currently going through a marriage crisis with his wife, Renee, and is currently cheating on her with a beautiful girl of dubious morals called Heather.

To further complicate matters Heather is actually an ex of Mickey’s and is someone he still holds something of a candle for. As Mickey finds that living with his new love in a pokey flat and being constantly broke isn’t so much fun as it once seemed, and Frances has to decide between the two women in his life the two brothers will need to sort their own issues out and the issues that exist between themselves. Can the blunt advice dished out periodically by their father provide any sort of solution, or is he having relationship problems of his own.

This is a completely dialogue orientated film and in the main the interaction between the characters works very well. The three surprise endings work very well and for me at least they were completely disguised. The performances are solid and the cast does contain some big names. Probably star performer is Cameron Diaz who simply out-acts her contemporaries.

The only area where I felt there was room for improvement was in the characterisation of the two brothers. Although the film goes to great length to point out their differences, at the end of the day they are exactly the same. They are both selfish, arrogant (ok, one more than the other) unable to accept any sort of responsibility, unable to move on in their lives etc etc. There was more than one point in the film where listening to one or other of them moaning and moaning about “how my wife doesn’t understand me” was tiresome.

Luckily there are some delightful scenes that more than makes up for this. The sequence of snippets when Francis must explain his heterosexuality is particularly enjoyable.

Totally underrated movie, it's brilliant
Review date: 2003-10-27 Rating: 10 out of 10

You know the kind of movies you haven't heard about...and are relucant to go see? Well this one is one of those, and you get you moneys worth for sure. The actors all play more than well, the plot and oneliners are for once correctly timed, and the characters are beleiveable. Even Cameron Diaz fills her role in a way that makes me beleive she can actually act.........enjoy

Ed Burns' best yet
Review date: 2003-03-07 Rating: 10 out of 10

I was always a little unsure of this film prior to watching it. I'm not sure if the DVD case does much for the appeal. And the word of mouth surrounding the film's title often throws up Freddie Prince Jnr. and Racheal Leigh Cook! However, once you put the DVD into the machine and start to watch Burns' writing does just take you so far from these misconceptions. Burns' style tends not to rely on a momentous enigma of any kind, but the character's and their relationships are fascinating and it's this which acts as the catalyst driving the film forward. The cast is impressive too which adds another dimension to the brilliant writing. The DVD's extras aren't brilliant but who cares- great film.

Another great film
Review date: 2000-12-15 Rating: 8 out of 10

Edward Burns had a hard act to follow after the success of "The Brothers McMullen" and I personally think he did a great job. This film was funny and touching and never fails to make me smile. I was glad to see some of the faces that appeared in his first film show up again in this one, along with people that everyone has already heard of like Cameron Diaz. A beautifully put together film, with a good script and solid cast. I love this man's work and hope he goes on to make many more films.

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