20130901: Comedy Review--You Did What?

Name: You Did What? (2006)
IMDb: link to You Did What? page

Genres: Comedy, Romance.  Country of origin: USA.

Cast: Edward Kerr as Charlie Porter, Kathy Wagner as Ashley McConnell,  Susan Ruttan as Mom, A. J. Buckley as Greg Porter, Kelly Overton as Day, Jason George as Ben (Charlie's friend), Brian Palermo as Andy Pztarski, Ashley's ex.

Written and directed by: Jeff Morris. 

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux: 
Charlie and Ashley have been bf/gf for over two years.  Charlie's brother Greg meets Day, then proposes less than 24 hours later.  Ashley gets very interested in marriage; Charlie throws up at the thought.  Day gets to call Charlie's mother 'Mom' and Ashley is jealous.

Delineation of conflicts:
Ashley ambushes Charlie with an unannounced visit (Charlie is taken there in a blindfold) to an interview show about couples who have been together too long not to get married.  For a number of men, that would be more than sufficient reason to break up.  Permanently.  Movie over; the shark has been jumped.  I watched the rest pro forma, to know what happened, to be done with it.  So, the challenge has been issued.

Resolution:
The rest of the film is about the dialectic between Ashley and Charlie over just what to do with what is left of their relationship, and the consequences of the possible choices.

One line summary: Feel bad rom com at its worst.

Statistics: 

Cinematography: 8/10 Sufficient light, good framing, and focus.

Sound: 7/10 Always OK, but the incidental music could have been better.

Acting: 4/10 Wretched.  If I never see A. J. Buckley, Kelly Overton, Brian Palermo, or Edward Kerr again, it will be way too soon.  Edward Kerr seems about 10 years too old for Kathy Wagner.  Susan Ruttan and Jason George were believable, at least.  The actors who played Ashley's parents were fine.

Screenplay: 2/10  This might have made a nice 20 minute short.  There are not many ideas here, and the few that are presented are just stretched past breaking.

Final Rating: 4/10; I could not wait for this thing to be completely over, so that I would never have the slightest inclination to watch another moment of it.