jon reiss gained some notoriety when he directed nine inch nail's controversial 'happiness is slavery' video. as a nin fan, i managed to track down a copy of that film back in the mid 90s. it struck me, and much of the imagery really hit a nerve. i made a note of reiss' name, and noticed when his videos would hit mtv. he always had an eye for powerful, visceral imagery.when i saw his name on this film, i eagerly checked it out. reiss brings that same eye, plus a very solid understanding of human relationships, to bear on this, his non documentary feature debut. this film really hits the mark in a lot of ways, telling an unusual, if altogether human story, about completely real and deeply developed characters. its the kind of film critics are always clamoring for, but that we rarely see. it takes a rare talent, and a brave soul, to sail these uncharted waters. thank goodness reiss had the courage to take the ride. we have one exceptional film from that experience.keep an eye out for jon reiss. he has a unique POV, and one that many people would connect with if they make the effort to seek him out.

Watching this film was a delight. I felt like I too have been in a situation where my roommate wouldn't leave and I was a pushover and let it happen. My place was destroyed and in the end I had to repair a lot of the house. This is exactly what Robert goes through. He has this house sitter that just kind of stays and ruins Roberts already ruined life. But the twist in this film is that he takes his house back in a very dramatic fashion. I don't want to get into the details, you should really see the film. It is nice to see a small budget film not feel like a small budget film. I have seen a lot of the director Jon Reiss's work and I think this one might be his most personal film. It's worth renting!

"Cleo's Second Husband" is an amateurish attempt at psychodrama with more to fault than to praise. The plot is hacked, the story monotonous, the acting poor, the execution second rate, etc. Not worth the time unless maybe your a relative of one of the actors. PU! (D)

Don't let the modicum of modest praise this movie received fool you. If you simply check the outside of the box you'll see the caliber of people who enjoyed this film; trust me, it's not company that you want to keep. This film is hindered by several flaws: a lack of interesting script, poor cinematography, dreadfully underdeveloped and ultimately hateful characters, uninteresting plot, poor pacing, and a miserable score. If none of these features are important to you then Cleopatra's Second Husband might be appealing; however, if you have any respect whatsoever for the UCLA film school (where director Jon Reiss earned, somehow, his MFA), I would strongly suggest that you skip this one.