Man About Town (2006)

Director:

Mike Binder

Writer (WGA):

Mike Binder (written by)

Release Date:

8 June 2006 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Welcome to the deep end of a very shallow town.

Plot:

A top Hollywood talent agent finds his cushy existence threatened when he discovers that his wife is cheating on him and that his journal has been swiped by a reporter out to bring him down. |

Plot Keywords:

Hollywood | Talent Agent | Diary | Screenwriter | Reference To IMDb

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Ben Affleck	...	Jack Giamoro
Rebecca Romijn	...	Nina Giamoro
John Cleese	...	Dr. Primkin
Samuel Ball	...	Jimmy Dooley
Mike Binder	...	Morty
Erica Cerra	...	Sela
Gina Gershon	...	Arlene Kreiner
Adam Goldberg	...	Phil Balow
Howard Hesseman	...	Ben Giamoro
Ling Bai	...	Barbi Ling (as Bai Ling)
Jerry O'Connell	...	David Lilly
Kal Penn	...	Alan Fineberg
Amber Valletta	...	Brynn Lilly
Damien Dante Wayans	...	Lucky Reynolds
Laura Soltis	...	Barbara Giamoro

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some sexual content and a scene of violence.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Netherlands:12 | Germany:12 | Australia:M | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-13 | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Media 8 Entertainment

Goofs:

Continuity: In the part where Brynn Lilly is pretending to be Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct (1992), she is holding a cigarette. Each time the camera changes angles, the cigarette is long, then short, then long, several times.

Quotes:

Arlene Kreiner: Jack, what's in the journal?
Jack Giamoro: Information that directly contradicts our testimony at the competition trial. As well as some personal stuff, my feelings about the size of my dick, stuff like that.

Movie Connections:

Features "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Basic Instinct

Ben Affleck - one helluva guy!

This is the Ben Affleck that I like. He's the average man. When asked if he completed college in one scene, he replies 'Community College, two years.' Of course, he's fantastically rich - not bad for a guy from Community College, and all of this in the dog-eat-dog world of the L.A. entertainment industry. This is the Ben Afflect I like!

He's handsome, yes. He's got a gorgeous wife (who cheated on him) and a Dad who is loopy (from having had a stroke) and clients who threaten to leave him and do and people who try to blackmail him. He's just juggling all the balls, dealing with it all one crisis at a time.

A lot of what he does is contradictory. The movie is often narrated with entries in his journal. He thinks that he has lost his nerve and his drive. Yet the first thing that he does in the movie is toss his wife out of the house for her infidelity. Without a moment's hesitation.

This is what Ben Afflect does really well in a movie: he plays a character who has ambition but a humble background. He contradicts himself by acting contrary to his beliefs, he attempts to redeem himself. And all the while, the audience can see the machinations of his very average brain trying to makes sense of it all. Because he's basically charming and has screen presence and yes, acting ability, you sort of think along with him and find that you are having a hard time making sense of it too!

But aside from the average intelligence trying to solve a difficult question, there's a lot of emotion, too, and his average brain can't decide whether that is a help or a hindrance.

I thought the movie was entertaining, a little slow in parts, surprisingly funny (I laughed out loud several times which hardly makes it a great comedy but it kept me watching!)

Rebecca Romijn doesn't have to do much in a picture but look gorgeous. She acted well but her beauty actually gets in the way - it's distracting.

Ben made a similar movie with Gwyneth Paltrow - 'Bounce' that I have watched several times and each time, I think it gets better with the re-watching.