It was fun to watch for all of the "detailed" items presented in the beginning, to see when they would pop up and how they would tie together. This forced brand of comedy falls flat, and the end credits begin to roll before any real traction is had. The comedy is - and I'm guessing here - meant to come from the absurd situations the characters are presented with, as opposed to finding absurdity in realistic situations. Maguire seems numb to it all, as does most of this cast. The Details forgoes any real attempt at characterization - or even comedy for that matter - and instead over-stuffs all of these plot contrivances one on top of the other. Oh yeah, then there is an unexpected pregnancy. Then there is a sub-plot where Jeff's pal Lincoln (Dennis Haysbert) is in need of a kidney transplant. Jeff also gets caught up messing around with his good friend's wife (Kerry Washington) and the husband (Ray Liotta) plans on extorting him. One thing leads to another and hilarity ensues, right? To smooth over the construction, he is forced to appease his crazy cat-lady neighbor played by Laura Linney, who has no shame in grabbing a quick paycheck with this performance. She tells him to just landscape without sod but he's on a mission. Maguire is Jeff, married to Nealy (Elizabeth Banks), and he obsesses daily about the raccoons tearing up his yard. How is that possible? Watch The Details to see how a great cast can be reduced by addition. ![]() ![]() Sadly, there is not much comedy in a film full of good actors having lots of fun. We are shown a bottle of poison, a plate of cheese and salami, a kidney and a plant from Trader Joe's - among a few other items - and we are told that these seemingly insignificant items factor in to the "something bad" that has happened. Maguire's voice-over tells us that we often obsess over the details when we look back on something that went bad, wishing we could have done something different. It begins like a murder-mystery, where we know something bad has happened and someone is about to hit the rewind button to show us how we got there. Be careful what you wish for in The Details.
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