Metascore
32 out of 100

Generally unfavorable - based on 24 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 24
  2. Negative: 12 out of 24
  1. Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    70
    The movie is Bateman's to steal, however, which he does early and often.
  2. 67
    Charles Grodin, in his first film in a dozen years, provides some of the best moments as Sofia's dad, while Mia Farrow is kind of creepy as her mom.
  3. Some of the most tasteless and un-PC comedy in the film is also the funniest - Farrelly Brothers-style humor that plays off the Bateman character's physical limitations.
  4. Reviewed by: Stina Chyn
    60
    Peretz's film continuously subverts the audience's expectations of what should likely happen given genre conventions.
  5. If you want a relationship comedy that feels like last year's stuff, doesn't go far enough in any direction and is made watchable only by an overqualified ensemble, there's The Ex.
  6. Reviewed by: Angel Cohn
    50
    Braff and Bateman have a good, darkly comic chemistry, but there aren't nearly enough moments like the brutally funny, "Murderball"-style wheelchair basketball game to sustain the entire film.
  7. 50
    The movie is populated by dislikeable individuals doing unpleasant things but isn't redeemed by the vein of viciously black comedy that made "The War of the Roses" and "Bad Santa" such devilish pleasures.
  8. Reviewed by: Ethan Alter
    50
    The actor that comes off the best in The Ex is Grodin, who spouts some hilariously cranky one-liners that sound too off-the-cuff to be scripted.
  9. 50
    Still, The Ex is more appealing and less dumb than most movies that pass as comedy today, so any criticisms of its shortcomings need to account for that big-picture perspective. Indeed, there are worse ways to spend an hour-and-a-half.
  10. The best jokes in this scattershot screwball satire of job insecurity, upward mobility, political correctness and yuppie marital tensions have claws that leave scratches.
  11. The resulting hodgepodge has the feel of filmmaking by committee, the look of last-minute reshoots and the whiff of desperation. Not even Braff's cartoonish smirk is distracting enough to hide that.
  12. For a comedy, it's not really funny.
  13. Though there are giggles here and there, the film is inexcusably unfunny.
  14. Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    38
    It's a pretty twisted concept, bordering on offensive. But mostly it's just not funny.
  15. 38
    The next time Grodin attempts a comeback, it would be so great if he avoids movies where he might be upstaged by a sandwich stunt.
  16. 33
    By the end, it doesn't even have the courage of its political incorrectness.
  17. Reviewed by: Peter Debruge
    30
    A half-baked comedy torn between sincere emotion and over-the-top outrageousness.
  18. Even likable star Zach Braff can't salvage this clunker.
  19. 25
    The latest catastrophe from the Weinstein Co.
  20. The Ex isn't painful, horrible or despicable, but it is an amazing mess.
  21. 25
    It never comes close to being funny.
  22. 20
    Originally titled "Fast Track" when it was scheduled to open last January, neither the wait nor the new title makes it worthwhile. The only fast track here is the one to home video.
  23. Reviewed by: Gregory Kirschling
    16
    A painful comedy that reduces the "Garden State" star to pratfalls while many comic A-teamers around him (including Paul Rudd and Amy Adams) play idiots.
  24. A stunningly insipid romance, marks an all-time low for actor Zach Braff -- his "Gigli," if you will.
User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 17 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Negative: 2 out of 8
  1. It was ok. A decent comedy with a solid cast. It has its ups and downs but its been a solid movie through out. If you are a fan of Braff then I would definently check this movie out. Full Review »
  2. MattC.
    7
    Caught this movie on a plane by accident. It's a solid comedy with enough subversiveness in its characters to give it a bit of bite. Won't change your life but it'll probably divert you from thinking about it for 90mins or so. Full Review »
  3. ChadS.
    5
    Thanks to "Murderball", we don't have to feel sorry for the physically-disabled anymore. It's so obvious that Chip(Jason Bateman) is a type-A jerk, but since "The Ex" is basically a workplace sitcom, only Tom(Zach Braff) sees his sociopathic side. For "The Ex" to have been a successful comedy, the film had to be as mean as Chip. In real life, nice guys finish last. It's funnier to see the bad guy win. "The Ex" probably isn't the film that was first conceived on paper. This is "Bad Santa"-lite. Full Review »