In one particular group of New York-based friends, there's one married couple made up of Tom and Rebecca (David Duchovny and Julianne Moore) and long-time girlfriend and boyfriend Elaine and Tobey (Maggie Gyllenhaal and Billy Crudup).
As an actress, Rebecca works her way back into theater, starring in a new play, while Tom has chosen to be the stay-at-home dad with their two children. Tobey works from home as a sports writer and Elaine shops around a children's book she wrote.
As much as she wants to have her book picked up by a publisher, Elaine wants to get married and have kids more. Tobey's not willing to commit to that though; he's preoccupied with the idea that he's going to die sometime in the future, like everyone does. Rebecca and Tom aren't in wedded bliss either. She's working all the time and he starts fooling around with one of his son's classmate's mother -- in addition to his fascination with porn.
Both relationships crumble and it's up to Tobey and Tom to pick themselves back up and salvage what they can.
Writer/director Bart Freundlich looks into the lives of these neurotic and dramatic couples as if there's really something to their lives, more than what they put forth for other characters to see. But these characters wear their hearts on their sleeves and each one says what they are feeling -- maybe not to the person they should be telling -- but they throw it out there for someone else to hear.
"Trust the Man" has a wonderful cast supporting a not-so-spectacular script. The trailers portray the movie as being a laugh-out-loud type of movie, but once the focus switches to the low point of relationships, it's no longer comedic. However, "Trust" does have its funny moments, like Tobey suggesting Elaine sending a photo of her in a bikini to publishers with her children's book or Tom going to a sex-addicts meeting and saying he loves to be wrapped in deli meats.
The title of the movie seems ironic, as trusting the men of this movie seems impossible. They cheat, they string their significant others along and can't get across what they feel. But, the message that many women may love is that the men regret their behavior and work so hard to win back the loves of their lives. Tobey and Tom realize they are nothing without these special women that they stop at nothing to get them back, including a "bar brawl" in the middle of a playhouse.
"Trust the Man" tries too hard to be that perfect movie house, independent-type of movie, but it would have been better if it had been slated as a movie for the mainstream movie theaters. The movie elitists that tend to haunt the movie palaces and quiet theaters will without a doubt feel above this movie.
Originally from Des Plaines, Ill., Heather moved to Milwaukee to earn a B.A. in journalism from Marquette University. With a tongue-twisting last name like Leszczewicz, it's best to go into a career where people don't need to say your name often.
However, she's still sticking to some of her Illinoisan ways (she won't reform when it comes to things like pop, water fountain or ATM), though she's grown to enjoy her time in the Brew City.
Although her journalism career is still budding, Heather has had the chance for some once-in-a-lifetime interviews with celebrities like actor Vince Vaughn and actress Charlize Theron, director Cameron Crowe and singers Ben Kweller and Isaac Hanson of '90s brother boy band Hanson.
Heather's a self-proclaimed workaholic but loves her entertainment. She's a real television and movie fanatic, book nerd, music junkie, coffee addict and pop culture aficionado.
