The Baxter

good laughs for dry humor

It's a great movie for fans of Stella. A lot of dry humor and acting so terrible and corny that you must laugh. August 2, 2008

Strange Success

What is more shocking than that this film represents a radical (even serious) departure from the absurdist fare of The State and Wet Hot American Summer is that it works so well that we stop wanting it to conform to those old standards of loopiness. The Baxter was ill-received by the critical community, but it seemed that no one was willing to take this lighthearted movie on its own terms. It brilliantly performs double and even paradoxical acts of being both a satire and perfect realization of the old screwball comedy form. Showalter as Elliot Sherman is innocent and awkward but also brimming with a subversive lunacy just beneath the well-groomed surface (or just under the driving cap, if you will). No performance is wasted in the film, with Justin Theroux's cornball charm, Michelle Williams's actual charm, Elizabeth Banks's grating feminine perfection, David Wain's...um...David Wain-ness...well, you get the point. Please see this movie. You'll laugh, cry, all that cinematic experience stuff...See it! May 4, 2008

A Hilarious Film with Heart

This is one of those films that I caught on cable and on first viewing, I thought it was a cute romantic comedy. But then I saw it again and I laughed hysterically. By the time I picked up the DVD, it was in my Top Ten Fav Films list, which is a tough list to get into I might add as I am quite a cinephile. Writer/Director/Star Michael Showalter plays Elliot Sherman, the self-described "Baxter" who as he describes it, is the guy in a romantic comedy who's nice but ultimately wrong for the leading lady. Showalter is an alum of The State, Stella, and Wet Hot American Summer, and is absolutely hilarious as the "Nice Guy Finishing Last." Elizabeth Banks plays said leading lady and Justin Theroux, Banks' character's ex-boyfriend, the leading man. Michael Ian Black (another alum of The State, Stella, and W.H.A.S.) plays Elliot's best friend and steals several scenes in the film. Then there's Michelle Williams, who plays Elliot's temp secretary Cecil, who is obviously perfect for him. Anyway, my suggestion is to rent the movie, watch it a couple of times and tell me I'm wrong about it being one of the best romantic comedies in years. April 28, 2008

The story is its own worst Baxter

A "Baxter" is basically a loser, the guy who not only never gets the girl, but has to hear others applaud when he loses her to hero of the story. And since "getting the girl" is basically the same as "getting the story", the "Baxter" is fated to become the footnote in the movie. The conceit behind "The Baxter" is that an entire romantic comedy has been written around the genre's most disposable character type (the guy that the movie's hero beats out in the last 5 minutes of the movie). Unfortunately, the conceit is something of a Baxter itself.

The story follows our Baxter, Eliot Wilbur Sherman in the few weeks before his doomed marriage to an unbelievably beautiful, intelligent and successful woman named Caroline (Elizabeth Banks - crazy Beth from "40 year Old Virgin"). The script doesn't do much to explain how Eliot managed to land Caroline (or is that "how Caroline got stuck with Eliot?") because there's no point to that. We pretty much know how the movie is going to end - the script beats us to the punch by opening the story at the altar, when Eliot does indeed lose Caroline to Bradley, her former too-good-to-be-true boyfriend. The twist is that the story also offers us an offbeat musician named Cecil who's fated to become Eliot's true love once he's realized that there is life after Baxter-hood. The story then re-winds back to those precious weeks before the wedding when we see Bradley slowly reenter Caroline's life and lay the seeds for his triumph at Eliot's altar.

The problem with this flick: like Eliot, it's sort of a Baxter itself. As the story progresses, Bradley edges Eliot out of the way, and since the story is told mostly from his POV, it's soon as marginalized as Eliot. It didn't take long before I began to feel as if there was some other movie going on somewhere else telling the exact same story from Brad's POV. Unfortunately, unlike Eliot, "The Baxter" doesn't have a Cecil of its own, a redeemer of a sort to save it from its incipient Baxterhood.

"The Baxter" unfortunately is successful only in proving just why Baxters shouldn't get the girl or our attention. April 20, 2007

The Traditional Romantic Comedy's Back-Story

The Baxter starts where most romantic comedies end: the leading man charges into the wedding scene to declare his love for the heroine--just as she is about to marry someone else. They run into each other's arms and live happily ever after. This movie leaves the "stars" of most romantic comedies to their own devices and instead follows the Baxter (the man the leading lady was willing to settle for since she couldn't be with her true love). So begins the story of Elliot Sherman (played by writer/director Michael Showalter), a tax accountant who never manages to get the girl.

A fan of romantic comedies, Showalter hoped to give a nod to the genre's zany movies of the forties with The Baxter. For inspiration, Showalter also looked to the modern embodiment of romantic comedies: Sleepless in Seattle. The idea for The Baxter was born when Showalter wondered what happened to Bill Pullman's character in Sleepless--the man Meg Ryan left to be with Tom Hanks.

Elliot is ready to give up on relationships until he meets Caroline Swann (Elizabeth Banks), a glamorous magazine editor. Elliot and Caroline are preparing for their upcoming nuptials when Caroline's high school sweetheart Bradley (Justin Theroux) returns. As Elliot desperately tries to avoid another rejection he runs into Cecil Mills (Michelle Williams), a unique office temp. With Cecil's help, Elliot realizes that he needs to take a risk and assert himself if he wants to stop being a Baxter. A series of comical catastrophes follow only to prove that, in the end, nice guys can finish first. In short, The Baxter is a romantic comedy for anyone who has ever been dumped.

This movie is hilarious and had this reviewer laughing from beginning to end. The Baxter features an excellent cast--from the leading roles down to the minor characters--, which is given every opportunity to shine. As Elliot becomes convinced that Caroline will dump him, Showalter perfectly conveys the mayhem and desperation Elliot feels as he tries to keep Caroline away from Bradley in the hopes of living happily ever after.

The Baxter is, first and foremost, about a Baxter who has no luck in love. But it is also a movie for anyone who suspects they might be slightly out of step with the world at large. This movie focuses on the quirky people that make life interesting but don't always get leading roles in Hollywood. Every character in The Baxter is at least a little neurotic, a little odd. It's these quirks that make the characters, and the movie, so lovable. April 1, 2007

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