CINEMA: The Dilemma

What would you do if you discovered your best friend’s wife was having an affair?

Tell him and risk wrecking your friendship? Or keep schtum and feel guilty about it? This is the dilemma facing recovering gambler and commitment-phobe Ronnie (Vince Vaughn) who catches Geneva (Winona Ryder), wife of his best mate and business partner Nick (Kevin James), out with a toyboy (Channing Tatum).

At a loss over what course of action to pursue Ronnie decides to play amateur detective and starts following Geneva in order to get photographic evidence to show Nick. But in his attempt to keep what he is doing secret from everybody, including his live-in girlfriend Beth (Jennifer Connelly), he raises their suspicions that he may have started gambling again. By doing what he thinks is the right thing Ronnie inadvertently creates a bigger headache for himself and risks losing not only his best friend and his girlfriend, but also his business.

This is really a film of two stories: Geneva’s infidelity, Ronnie’s knowing about it and how it could affect his friendship with Nick; and the business partnership between Ronnie and Nick and their efforts to secure the biggest contract of their careers. In truth, director Ron Howard could have thrown the storyline about the pair’s business out as it sits a little uncomfortably with the main thrust of the film, which is what to do about the infidelity.

Vaughn and James do the best buddy thing well and have some very funny scenes together including one in which Ronnie tries to question Nick about his visits to a massage parlour and in response gets an incomprehensible speech about ice-cream and nuts. Channing is also very good as the toyboy who has a ‘sensitive’ side.

Meanwhile, the two lead female characters are fully fleshed out by Ryder and Connelly. Ryder is something of a revelation as Geneva, who is no nonsense and ballsy, while Connelly displays real concern as Beth, worried that the man she loves could be succumbing to his addiction to gambling again.