Most reviews on this film say that it's a nostalgic nod to the old Hollywood screwball comedies and it has a terrific cast. I'd like to weigh in with my 2 cents on these two aspects. Firstly, flicks where the characters constantly find themselves in the awkward embarrassing situations give me anxiety and an urge to look away. And She's Funny That Way has plenty of such situations, because you know, the film is about a run-of-the-mill call-girl who sleeps with the director, and is seen leaving his hotel room by an actor who's acting in the director's play and who was romantically involved with the director's wife, also an actress, and then, said wife comes to town, and the call-girl gets a role in their play, and... you get the idea. Yet all the characters bounce back from awkward encounters and disclosures with admirable ease, grace, and humor very rare in films. It's a truly funny, charming comedy with a zesty yet innocent premise and terrific actors. Everybody raves about the main cast, especially a do-gooder Owen Wilson and hysterical Jennifer Aniston, and I'd also like to give a shoutout to talented British actress Lucy Punch who has a small role of a Russian prostitute barely speaking English and whose comedic talent makes her few scenes one of the most hilarious ones in the movie. Bottomline, this comedy is a cinematic joy and we need more films like it.

As an attempt to make a modern screwball comedy this film is to be applauded, but while it has its moments, and a very strong cast, I can't say I ever found it to be as funny or entertaining as it was intended to be.Owen Wilson does his 'Mr nice guy' act that we've seen many, many times before, and Imogen Poots' accent got on my nerves after a while, as did the constant linking device with her being interviewed.It does boast a performance from Jennifer Aniston that's a bit different from what we're used to, and the always welcome sight of Rhys Ifans, but other than that this was quite standard, unexceptional entertainment.

Imogen Poots is very good in an exhausting role, that of a starstuck "paid muse" (i.e., call girl) in New York City who manages to land an audition for a new Broadway play--one being directed by the same man who recently requested her services and then paid her $30,000 to find a new profession (he has a soft spot for beautiful prostitutes with ambition, and has been 'tipping' them all over town). Director and co-writer Peter Bogdanovich (who shares the screenplay credit with ex-wife Louise Stratten) is a softie for neurotic, lovestruck characters who come in and out of each other's lives, and his dialogue is, by turns, witty, funny, abrasive and annoying (but never ugly--Bogdanovich is a lot like the Poots character, he believes in charmed lives, meaningful encounters and happy endings). High-strung screwball comedy starts out fun but then begins to grind the viewer down in lopsided valentines. As per usual in a Bogdanovich picture, there are a lot of people to look at and fast patter to pick up on, and the colorful cast happily goes with the flow. Not a comeback for the filmmaker, but not an embarrassment either. ** from ****

The point of a screwball comedy is to set up a situation, then have a conflict erupt, and to solve the puzzle and put everything back together in the last 5 minutes at the end. The audience must be taught by the story how the pieces *should* fit back together, so they can start rooting for the ending halfway through the movie. This movie had a very good beginning. It seems like the middle was contrived in a "Luke, I am your father" sort of way, by the author creating way too many familial relationships that are revealed all at once in an Italian restaurant in the middle.Unfortunately, the writers never bothered to write a convincing ending. The never did the legwork to convince the audience that there was a solution, and they completely bailed on the ending and it seems like this movie just ends and nobody really cares how any particular character's life turned out. In fact, the writers bailed out in the first 30 seconds because we know throughout the movie that one person's life turned out great, but everybody else's life - i couldn't tell you what happened to even one other character 5 minutes after the movie finished.This movie quite possiblyh started life as a play. Many famous actors and actresses wanted to appear in this movie. It's a shame that the writers didn't do a better job with the ending.