When their mother dies, Jake and Josh Adams are left alone to run their farm. They seem capable enough doing the outdoor work and selling their produce, but when they try to do their own cooking, for example, they make a real mess of it. Josh, especially, seems incapable of taking care of himself. They can't find a maid to do the work.Jake goes to the library to learn how to find a wife. While he was there, I thought he had found a possible candidate. I won't say whether I was right. But he discovers a web site which leads him to a tour for men interested in Russian brides. The librarian sees the name of the web site, and her reaction is funny, because it COULD be porn.The amazing thing is that in the one scene where a maid turns the boys down, it is because she won't be paid enough. Now I can understand this since it is hard to make money farming. Yet this tour is very expensive; a maid might have been cheaper. Especially when one considers how much work should probably be getting done while they're gone--I'm sure the guy they hired to sell produce didn't do it for free.Jake takes care to watch how much money is being spent and whether he is getting a good value, and he does everything according to a system. Yet he is not particularly nice, charming or good-looking. Josh is good-looking, popular and fun-loving but not too bright, though women would want to take care of him. These guys are sort of like the Harper brothers of TV's "Two and a Half Men" in reverse--but on that show the take-charge guy is the one who shouldn't be in charge. And, unfortunately for this movie, the prudent arrangement is not necessarily the entertaining one. I think a lot of people will enjoy the movie, though. It's not the laugh-out-loud style I was hoping for, but both male leads give very good performances, and there are some funny situations. My problem with Tim Blake Nelson is that his uptight attitude makes him hard to like. Uptight can be entertaining, as Jon Cryer proves, but it requires a different sort of taste to enjoy Nelson. Though Jake's agonizing over every little detail is still funny. And David Arquette is capable of playing what could be a hick without making him a hick.One of the best things about the movie is what appears to be a series of interviews for a documentary (especially the parts appearing with the closing credits). Someone in the movie is, in fact, filming a documentary. And that someone is a woman who may be a candidate for the boys' bride. Yes, I said the BOYS' bride. This arrangement actually seems perverted to the father of one of the other candidates, which makes for another funny moment. Emily Mortimer has some impressive scenes in her role as the documentary producer. The reason she is in a lot of scenes is that Jake needs a translator, even though he is reluctant to appear in the film.One artistic touch is the fish feeder. Josh needs someone to feed his fish while he is gone, and time is measured by each feeding by an automatic fish feeder, which turns sort of like a clock whose hands advance rather than moving continuously.It was an okay movie. For some, it would be quite a good one.

I was just settling in to see what I had on TIVO when I picked up some of the wry humor in this film. I looked at the details and since it was less than 1/2 hour in progress, went to the beginning and enjoyed it.I like the ending (which I will not spoil) and it was certainly not expected, despite the wild character arc that the younger brother's character went through.I kept thinking about "O Brother Where Art Thou" because of Nelson's familiar hangdog look... but his characterization here was a bit uneven, wavering between the bumpkin to a shrewd and sagacious character.It was also fun seeing an inside look at the often infamous mail order bride industry. I had seen a documentary that completely trashed that industry... based on some guys' bad experiences. Nice to see a different play on the theme.

David Arquette & Tim Blake Nelson & a bevy of attractive ladies enliven this Lil flick. They are 2 none too bright brothers trying to find a bride in St Petersburg Russia. This is a nicely written & well acted minor film (only 82 minutes long).Production values are good with good looking location scenes.The only compliant I have is that the ending is a bit confusing,I think under its original title "A Foreign Affair" the running time was about 94 minutes.Do not expect much, just either rent this or watch it on cable like I did, sit back & enjoy.Rating ** 1/2 out of 4======points 78 out of 100.My IMDb rating is a 7 because I enjoyed it.

A Foreign Affair will open on May 7, 2004 in Los Angeles, Phoenix (where the A Foreign Affair romance tour company is located) and Grand Rapids, Michigan, home of Calvin College, where screenwriter Geert Heetebrij went to school. I'd highly recommend seeing the film that weekend if you live anywhere near one of these cities. The film was made on a shoestring budget and so it depends not on special effects, car chases and elaborate scenes, but simply on good acting, a compelling storyline and beautiful cinematography. The premise of the film is simple: two brothers live with their mother and when she dies they're left alone with no abilities to fend for themselves. They head to Russia on a romance tour to find a "wife." They want someone to cook and clean for them for the two years it would take their "bride" to get her green card. Along the way both brothers discover things about themselves and each other, with unexpected results. A Foreign Affair is a quirky, funny, sometimes sweet and always thoughtful piece of filmmaking. It was produced as an independent film, outside of the Hollywood process, and it shows. Well done.