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"TRUST THE MAN" (2006) (Julianne Moore, David Duchovny) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Moderate Minor Heavy Minor None Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild None None None Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Extreme Minor Heavy Heavy Mild QUICK TAKE: Dramedy: Two couples -- one married, the other dating -- must deal with the trials and tribulations of their relationships. PLOT: In New York City, there are millions of couples, some young, some old, some happy, and others on the verge of breaking up. In between are those having problems, such as Tom (DAVID DUCHOVNY) and Rebecca (JULIANNE MOORE). She's a famous actress rehearsing for a Broadway show, while he's a stay-at-home dad to their young child. While they'd seem to have it all, their lack of sexual compatibility has their marriage in disarray, resulting in him taking a liking to single mom Pamela (DAGMARA DOMINCZYK), while Rebecca must contend with young theater worker Jasper (JUSTIN BARTHA) putting the moves on her. At the same time, her unemployed brother Tobey (BILLY CRUDUP) can't go the extra step with his longtime girlfriend Elaine (MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL), an office worker and aspiring writer. She feels her biological clock ticking, but his obsession with death has left him phobic of marriage. When she eventually dumps him, he takes up with a married acquaintance, Faith (EVA MENDES), but can't stop thinking about Elaine. As the weeks wear on, the two couples try to sort through their various relationship-based issues. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Some teens might be interested in it, particularly if they're fans of someone in the cast. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For language and sexual content. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: DAVID DUCHOVNY plays a stay-at-home dad who, being a sex addict, isn't happy that his wife isn't that interested in sex. Accordingly, he has an affair, attends sex addict meetings, uses some profanity, and drinks. JULIANNE MOORE plays his famous actress wife who isn't happy with their marriage, particularly when she learns of his affair. She uses strong profanity, drinks, and briefly smokes. BILLY CRUDUP plays her unemployed, slacker boyfriend who's obsessed with death but is unwilling to marry his longtime girlfriend. He uses strong profanity and drinks. MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL plays his longtime girlfriend, an office assistant and aspiring writer who feels her biological clock ticking and becomes increasingly fed up with his refusal to take their relationship to the next step. She uses some profanity and drinks some. DAGMARA DOMINCZYK plays a single parent who uses some profanity, and has an affair with Tom. EVA MENDES plays Tobey's married acquaintance who wants to have an affair with him. JUSTIN BARTHA plays a theater worker who has the hots for Rebecca. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated drama. Profanity consists of at least 9 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Sexually related dialogue (covering a variety of topics) is present, as is some pornography and sexually related behavior (masturbation, male to female oral sex under the covers, under the sheets sex, a woman coming on to and kissing another woman, etc.). Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, including some who cheat on their spouses. That leads to some tense family material, while other thematic elements are present (including various moments involving sexual addiction). Various characters drink, one briefly smokes, and some brief scatological material is present. Finally, there's some brief, comedy-based struggling and other contact between characters. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE The two couples drink in a restaurant where others also drink. Rebecca says she's going to get a drink (at home), but ends up having cake instead. She then stuffs a lot in her mouth, chokes, tries to wash that down with chugs from a bottle of wine, and then has Tom perform the Heimlich maneuver on her. Jasper sends over glasses of wine for Rebecca and Elaine. Elaine and Tobey have beer in front of them and she takes a swig from her bottle. People have drinks in a club. Rebecca and Elaine have drinks in a club as do others. Elaine tells a singer they should get a drink and he says, "Lots of them." We then see them and Rebecca in a bar, where the ladies are drinking, including Rebecca downing a shot. Tom holds a glass of wine before a dinner party where Tobey shows up with a bottle of wine. They and the rest of their dinner party then have wine with dinner. A waiter carries glasses of champagne at a wedding reception. BLOOD/GORE Tom's boy says he has to "poop" but is having problems (we see him sitting on the toilet). Tom tells him if he sits there, sometimes a fart will work its way out, and then says that pooping, farting or burping will relieve the pressure the boy is feeling in his stomach. As Tom walks away, we hear the boy say "Here it comes!" After having the Heimlich maneuver performed on her, Rebecca says she can still taste the throw-up. While playing "baseball" inside the house (using a wooden spoon as the bat), Tom's son accidentally lets go of that spoon and it smacks into Rebecca's face, leaving her with two black eyes. Tobey states that he has to "go to the head." When he returns, he tells Elaine that it looks like he digested that corn. We see Tom, Tobey and other men standing at urinals. We hear slight related sounds, but don't see the actual act. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Tobey is a slacker who refuses to marry Elaine for a variety of reasons, and won't even drive her to work since that would mean losing a parking spot. A person yells out to another (as an insult), "Blow me, d*ckhead." Pamela comes on to Tom despite knowing he's married, and the two end up having an affair. Tobey drives slowly to eavesdrop on his therapist's conversation. Those behind him are angry, with one unseen one calling him a "douche bag." A sexual addiction instructor comments on one guy who's having sex with his mother-in-law and her sister. Faith kisses Tobey at a nightclub, wants him to dance with her, and later continues to come on to him, moving in close, nuzzling his neck and telling him to talk dirty to her (he's awkward about doing so, especially since she's married). Defending her wanting to have an affair with Tobey (and thus cheat on her husband), Faith says that they'll be dead in 50 years and that no one will remember any of them. After they've split up, Tobey makes fun of Elaine's date, his accent and broken English, and whether he's a citizen or not. Jasper nuzzles on Rebecca's neck before her stage show, kisses her, she kisses him back and then playfully slaps him. When Rebecca's stage director tries to give her advice about their state in the world, she replies, "You should go f*ck yourself." Tom tries to steal some flowers from the theater to give to Rebecca, but an usher catches and stops him. FRIGHTENING SCENES Tom has to perform the Heimlich maneuver on Rebecca when she chokes on some cake (played lightly). GUNS/WEAPONS None. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "What the f*ck?" "F*cking car," "F*ck you," "You little f*cking twit," "You should go f*ck yourself," "Bullsh*t," "Oh sh*t," "I don't have time for this bullsh*t," "Blow me, d*ckhead," "He's a pretentious sprocket with a huge c*ck," "Horny," "Assman" (seen written), "Jerk off" (masturbate), "Pretentious moron," "Jeez," "Chick," "What the hell?" "You're awesome," "There's no way in hell," "Doesn't that freak you out?" "Are you crazy?" "Gotta go to the head" (bathroom), "Would you shut up?" "Bitch," "Douche-bag," "Freak," "Sucks," "Balls" (testicles), "Why do you think we're such wise-asses?" "You're/You the man," "Loser" and "Booyah." We see miscellaneous graffiti in the city. Elaine does a spit-take twice (where she's surprised and sprays out liquid in her mouth -- in different scenes). Pamela's young son playfully hits Tom in the crotch, causing him to bend over in pain and later hold a package of frozen vegetables on his clothed crotch. Later, Tom's young son asks Tom if he wants to see what he learned from that boy and then hits Tom in the crotch. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) None. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 9 "f" words, 5 "s" words, 1 slang term for sex ("screw"), 6 slang terms using male genitals ("d*ck," "c*ck," "pr*ck" and a possible "c*cks*cker"), 7 asses (some written, 4 used with "hole"), 3 hells, 1 crap, 9 uses of "Oh my God," 4 of "Oh God," 3 of "Jesus" and 1 use each of "G-damn," "For God's sake," "God," "Jesus Christ," "Oh Jesus" and "Swear to God." SEX/NUDITY We briefly see a miscellaneous couple in the city passionately kissing (clothed). Rebecca and Tom meet their therapist, with Tom bringing up their old issue that Rebecca doesn't want to have sex. She says she isn't a sex maniac like him, with him saying he isn't. She then says he wants to do it twice a day and "from behind" and that he paws her. He says he's normal ("I just like to have sex"), that he simply wants to touch his wife and that the only way to approach her is from behind since her back is always turned. The therapist says that maybe it would help if they saw him more than once a year, but tells her upon leaving to think about having sex with Tom, adding "Possibly doggy style." After they've left, Tom and Rebecca joke about that session, with Tom saying "therapy always makes me horny" and that he had a dream last night that Rebecca "gave me a blow-job." She quickly responds that she had a dream that she gave him a German shepherd. They passionately kiss on the street, but she says she doesn't want him to suck her face off. We see that part of Tobey's screen-name is "assman," and when he later spells that out to Faith (trying to separate the letters so that they don't spell that out), she and her husband get it, and knowingly chuckle. A person yells out to another (as an insult), "Blow me, d*ckhead." Rebecca asks how often Elaine and Tobey have sex. Elaine wonders if she means gratifying or regular sex, and then says that they have good sex. Jokingly describing Tom's morning, Tobey lists it as "Breakfast, jerk off, nap, late lunch." When Tom implies he and Rebecca don't have much sex, Tobey says that's odd as she had sex with everyone in high school. Tobey then says that Tom just wishes it was like having a hooker, but Tom says without the payment part. Jasper wears a t-shirt that reads "Climax One" (and something else in small print) on the front, and "Everybody should come at least once" on the back. Rebecca and Tom passionately kiss in a cab on the way home. He then says who knew a certain lobster dish was an aphrodisiac, she playfully asks, "Is that what this is?" (possibly referring to feeling an unseen erection) and he says no, that it's another lobster dish. She then tells him to meet her in the bedroom, but when they get home, he says he has to go to the bathroom and she ends up choking on some cake and he has to perform the Heimlich maneuver on her. Later, he tries coming on to her in bed, but she says she can still taste the throw-up and thus nothing else happens. Tom buys a porno mag named "Shaved" from a nightstand. We briefly see its front and back covers (scantly clad women, but the view is split-second so we couldn't tell if there was explicit nudity). Other such magazine covers show more skin. Elaine states that desperation is foreplay for Tobey. After an earlier, failed sexual encounter, Tom says that Rebecca still kind of owes him. She's not in the mood, but he says he has a way where she won't have to expend any energy. He then puts a porno tape on the TV (we don't see it) and wants her to describe what she sees while he gets under the cover and masturbates to that (saying it's that or real sex). We see a little hand movement under the sheet at his crotch, but she starts making comically sarcastic comments about what's occurring, thus throwing off his plan. He tells how he wants to hear it, so she mentions the people taking their clothes off, the guy having an erection, and then adds that the "guy's d*ck is green and twice the size of yours." She also mentions the woman having a bad wax job, that another woman joins that duo, and then wonders if what she's seeing is a piercing (presumably of the genitalia). All of this is played for laughs on the part of the film. We see the end of Tobey and Elaine having sex under the thick covers. We see movement (but can't tell what's happening) and hear their sexual sounds, followed by them being out of breath, and her cuddling up with him when they're done. When she sits up, she shows some cleavage in her lingerie, but she ends up mad at him and storms away. Tobey mentions certain baseball players being Catholic and thus unable to use birth control, with Elaine commenting on cultural reproduction. Tom talks to Tobey on the phone while visiting a porn site (we just see the warning wording on the computer screen about entering the site). Tobey wonders what kinds he's looking at, with the comment being "man/woman, woman/whore stuff." Tom then says he thinks he went to the wrong place on the site, but then smiles as we hear a horse whinny from the speaker. Pamela comes on to Tom despite knowing he's married, and the two end up having an affair. Pamela shows cleavage. Tobey thinks that Elaine should use a sexier photo for the author photo part of her children's book, and then pulls out a photo of her in a bikini (that shows cleavage as she partially bends over). When Pamela surprises Tom by calling at night, he's flustered and blurts out that he was just relieving himself, amending that to being relieved it's her (and not Tobey). Tom and Pamela get a hotel room (we see them enter and then see her join him in the shower, but the head and shoulders shot doesn't show any nudity). Tom sees an ad for sexaddictsrus.com. Tom asks Tobey, "You ever had a problem..?" (making us think it's an erectile issue) and then continues "another woman problem?" An older female publisher is obviously attracted to Elaine (a potential client) and comes on to her outside, holding her hand and telling Elaine that her (Elaine's) new status of being single means it's her time to explore. The women eventually corners her between her two hands and then plants a sensual kiss on her while putting her hand on Elaine's clothed breast. That prompts a man passing by to tell them to get a room. Later, Elaine tells Rebecca about this, saying she wanted to tell Tobey, knowing it would excite him in making him think of a three-some. Rebecca then says she had a three-some once, but then says the two guys turned out to be gay and she was just window dressing to them. Jasper gives a shoulder massage to Rebecca. Tom goes to a sex addicts meeting, where the instructor states that if anyone is there for the "owning your own orgasm" meeting, they're in the wrong place (one person gets up and leaves). The meeting then begins, and one woman says that no matter how much sex and how many positions, she still feels empty. The instructor then comments on one guy who's only happy if his penis is in something hard, mentions a woman with a power tool fetish, and then a man who's having sex with his mother-in-law and her sister. Thinking he needs to make up something to fit in, Tom says he's having an affair and likes the woman to wrap him in deli meats, saying he needs that to reach an orgasm. Faith shows some cleavage. Faith kisses Tobey at a nightclub, wants him to dance with her, and later continues to come on to him, moving in close, nuzzling his neck and telling him to talk dirty to her (he's awkward about doing so, especially since she's married). Rebecca sets up Elaine with a singer who kisses Rebecca upon meeting up with them and says she tastes as good as ever. He says he's a minister and that "Ministers are free to fornicate." Rebecca suggestively tells Elaine that the guy is "very attentive" and we then see Elaine back at home, reacting (without sounds) to the guy performing oral sex on her below the covers (we hear him humming while doing so). He then pops up (we see his head) and says that she tastes amazing, but she tells him to stop and leave. Later, when he meets Tobey upon walking out, he says that Elaine is in bed, but then makes a comment and wipes his fingers across his goatee (referring to the oral sex he just performed) while saying at least he got material for a song. Elaine shows some cleavage in a cocktail dress. After Tobey says that Elaine's new date is a "sprocket," she says, "No, he's a pretentious sprocket with a huge c*ck." Tobey replies that it doesn't look like he's got a "huge c*ck," but Elaine says he does. Everyone else at the dinner party hears this, including the date who smiles, and then Tom gives him a silent toast. Rebecca comes on to Tom in bed, but his back is turned and he rejects the advance with an excuse. After Rebecca mentions maybe her problem is menopause, Tobey tells her not to talk about her vagina as she's his sister and it's bad enough that she's sleeping with his best friend. About Tom and using a metaphor, Tobey says that he's the quarterback "who wants to screw anything with two legs." Pamela's young son playfully hits Tom in the crotch, causing him to bend over in pain and later hold a package of frozen vegetables on his clothed crotch. She asks if they (testicles) are really that sensitive, and he says they are. Jasper nuzzles on Rebecca's neck before her stage show, kisses her, she kisses him back and then playfully slaps him. There may be a porn title on the DVR menu that Tobey is looking through. We see a shirtless male actor on the stage during a performance. We see Rebecca's strapless dress being adjusted over her chest backstage, but don't see anything explicit. While in flight on a plane, Rebecca tells Tom to join her in a few moments in the bathroom (he gets up to do so, but we don't see the presumed sexual encounter). SMOKING Rebecca briefly smokes while distraught. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Rebecca asks Elaine is she worries that Tobey is going to cheat on her (meaning she's worried about that for herself). That worry continues as their marriage progressively weakens, eventually leading to him having an affair. We hear that Pamela is divorced. Pamela comes on to Tom despite knowing he's married, and the two end up having an affair. Rebecca gets her suspicions confirmed about Tom having an affair and later confronts him about that. He says he's lost and trying to find himself, and she tells him to move out. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Relationships. People who are afraid or are hesitant to get married. Sexual compatibility (or not). Sex addicts. Pornography. Tom being a stay-at-home dad. The Heimlich maneuver. Tobey's fatalistic obsession with death. Tobey mentions people's high reproduction rates using up all of Earth's resources. Elaine wants children, but Tobey doesn't. Defending her wanting to have an affair with Tobey (and thus cheat on her husband), Faith says that they'll be dead in 50 years and that no one will remember any of them. VIOLENCE While playing "baseball" inside the house (using a wooden spoon as the bat), Tom's son accidentally lets go of that spoon and it smacks into Rebecca's face, leaving her with two black eyes. Rebecca kicks or steps on Tom's foot or leg under the table when he says something of which she doesn't approve while chatting with Elaine (played lightly). Tom ends up falling out of bed when Pamela calls (as he gets tangled in the bedding -- played for comedy). Rebecca hits Tobey with her handbag (played lightly). Pamela's young son playfully hits Tom in the crotch, causing him to bend over in pain and later hold a package of frozen vegetables on his clothed crotch. She asks if they (testicles) are really that sensitive, and he says they are. Later, Tom's young son asks Tom if he wants to see what he learned from that boy and then hits Tom in the crotch. Jasper nuzzles on Rebecca's neck before her stage show, kisses her, she kisses him back and then playfully slaps him. Tobey struggles with Elaine's new boyfriend over her (both tugging her back and forth -- played for comedy). Tobey then pushes that boyfriend back into a potted plant and he falls to the floor. Tobey tackles an usher in the aisle of a theater so that Tom can get up on stage with Rebecca (also played for comedy). Reviewed July 25, 2006 / Posted August 18, 2006

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