EX-HUSBANDS - Mark Reviews Movies

Ex-Husbands, Greenwich Entertainment

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Review by Mark Dujsik | February 20, 2025

Three generations of men, all of them with some issues about romance or marriage or commitment or something along those lines, figure into the story of Ex-Husbands. Writer/director Noah Pritzker's narrative doesn't have much of a through line, apart from its weekend-getaway and sitcom-like miscommunication setup, but that feels quite appropriate for these particular characters. They're all aimlessly trying to figure out things about themselves and why their lives are currently such a mess. The film matches that energy.

Take our central character Peter Pearce (Griffin Dunne), a man in his 60s who learns that his father Simon (Richard Benjamin) has decided it's time for a divorce from Peter's mother—the father's wife of 65 years. Even after all that time, Simon is somehow convinced that there are better things and true love ahead of him, believing he somehow has another 20 or 30 years of life left in him. Peter points out that his father would 110 if his most generous estimate is accurate, and that level of essentially delusional stubbornness pretty much gets at the core or, at least, part of all of the main characters here.

The other two are Peter's adult sons with Maria (Rosanna Arquette), his own wife of 35 years, who decides its time for them to divorce a few years after Simon's announcement and the death of Peter's mother. Peter's own slightly delusional belief is that there's still a chance for a reconciliation with Maria, who already has a divorce settlement arranged with her attorney and keeps asking Peter to go over it.

Sure, we've already entered clichéd and/or jokey territory with this story, but just as some of the best jokes have some degree of truth in them, some clichés exist because they're true, too. Sometimes, they're also worth laughing at, as is occasionally the case here.

Plus, Pritzker is more interested in these characters' behaviors, personalities, and attitudes than the situations in which they find themselves. That's nice to see, especially when the screenplay reveals just the situation Peter, a successful dentist, and his sons, elder Nick (James Norton) and younger Mickey (Miles Heizer), are about to find themselves.

Nick is about to marry Thea (Rachel Zeiger-Haag), whom we see him meeting while working as a server at a restaurant six years prior to the start of the story proper. In all that time, not much has changed for Nick, who's still working at the restaurant, and Pritzker hints that there's something off about the relationship between the two of them.

Either way, Mickey, who recently came out as gay to his family and friends, has arranged a bachelor party with all of Nick's closest friends in Tulum, Mexico. The gag of a setup is that Peter unintentionally arranged his own vacation in the same place, in order to briefly get away from and maybe forget the divorce proceedings and his father's diminishing health. Despite Mickey's insistence that his father had better cancel his plans so as not to take attention away from Nick's party, Peter goes through with it—mostly because there's no way of canceling or rescheduling his flight.

The most obvious route for this story to take, perhaps, is for it to find a bunch of awkward or uncomfortable ways for some combination of characters to keep Peter and Nick apart. Instead, Pritzker drops any potential games as soon as the father and sons board the plane, notice each other, and agree that Peter's vacation and the sons' party will remain separate. That doesn't last, of course, but when the arrangement changes, it all comes from the characters agreeing to it, as well.

Pritzker gives each of these three equal understanding in some way. We follow Peter, as he tries to enjoy some time alone, keeps being reminded of his failed marriage (A former patient, played by John Ventimiglia, happens to be working on a real estate development in Tulum, and he's far happier with his divorce than Peter is with his looming one), and strikes up a fast bond with Eileen (Eisa Davis), the godmother-of-the-bride whom Peter meets while having a random conversation with the groom-to-be.

Meanwhile, Nick spends his bachelor party wallowing in a secret he isn't ready to tell anyone and struggling with a recent diagnosis of depression. Most of his problems stem from being or, at least, feeling stuck in life, and even surrounded by friends and family and the beautiful backdrops of Tulum, he's still stuck, certain that he has let people down and will soon let down even more people once that secret comes to light. As for Mickey, he's navigating his newly announced sexuality and his desire for a romantic relationship that might not come anytime soon—if he keeps picking guys like the one he chooses on the getaway.

The film strikes a nice balance of tone, mainly because it does see these characters as more than the source of a jokey premise, while also understanding that there is humor to found in how they seem incapable of not sabotaging themselves, their relationships, and their potential for some kind of happiness. When most of the story does come down to observing these characters and seeing how their relationships with each other evolve and flail on the trip and beyond, that tone is key to the film's success.

Ex-Husbands does succeed, too. It's a grounded character study, as a comedy about familiar characters and relationships, and as something just off-beat enough for the humor and sincerity to catch us off-guard on occasion.

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