Ninety-two minutes never seemed this long, and the self-described “insightful and enjoyable tale” that wastes that valuable time is anything but. It’s not insightful. It’s definitely not enjoyable. And are we supposed to laugh? If so, it fails there, too. “Don’t Get Me Wrong” should be re-titled “Don’t Bother Watching.”
Jackie and Carolyn are sisters. Naturally, they’re opposites. Jackie (Candice Meade) is kind of annoying and flighty. Carolyn (Robyn Weiss) is supposed to be some die hard feminist ice queen. Regardless, neither of them (or any of their friends) act like people I know. Even when the characters seem well-rounded, they still come out one dimensional. And then there’s the story … or lack thereof.
This film seems like it wants to be about Jackie. She’s an actress/waitress who starts some relationship advice hotline, which really doesn’t have that much to do with the overall story, all while trying to track down some strange, boyish stalker (Mark Overton). I imagine it’s supposed to be ironic that she has a screwed up love life, but then so do all the other characters. Let’s face it, the single life is only really like this for morons and people in David E. Kelley’s works. Smart people don’t feel sorry for people who constantly make bad relationship choices, which is what this movie revolves around, and they also don’t like watching people moan about it for ninety minutes. Someone grab a gun!
Movies like this are nothing more than idealized misery focusing on people too dumb to have real problems, but who like to invent their own as long as they aren’t too serious. No, world hunger is too big of an issue to tackle. They like to think the person they’re dating is seeing someone else. Now, that’s a dilemma! Christ, doesn’t anyone leave high school anymore? Grown-ups should not be acting like these characters.
It doesn’t take a genius to see that this movie bugged the crap out of me. Not because it’s disturbing or challenging. No, it bothered me because it was such a boring bit of cinema, and I sat through it. If I met these characters in real life, I’d gut them with an old hunting knife, so why would I enjoy watching them for an hour and a half? No reason. And if anyone ever tells me that this movie is just like their life … look out! I will be most unkind to you. Now go find copies of this movie and destroy them before anyone else’s time can be wasted.
