It was fun to see Thora Birch and Chris Klein back in action in this Portland-based rom-com. Birch's smart, self-assured acting style is a nice complement to Klein's natural good-guy vibe. The sight gag where Lauren trips and drops out frame just after meeting Calvin, leaving her umbrella suspended in mid-air, is a fun piece of camera work and helps to set the light, goofy tone of the film. The PIG Theory (Point of Infidelity and Guilt) is cynical and clearly rooted in more than just numbers, so Calvin has his work cut out for him when tasked by Gena to intervene in Lauren's career path. Their chemistry is immediate, they soon strike a bargain, and shenanigans ensue. Some of the supporting characters add real spark and depth, including a radiant Claire Coffee as Lauren's long-suffering and protective sister Gena, Kelsey Tucker as amusingly harried have-it-all career mom Sharon, and the scene-stealing David Blue as Jacob. The central contest of the film is pretty mean-spirited, but of course you know Calvin and Lauren will learn some important life lessons and things will work out for them in the end. You can't boil everything down to a scientific formula.

Of all the very boring films I have watched I can usually say something positive about the film. This is a first. Or, as in this film's title, "The Competition", this film comes in absolutely last in my opinion. Do not waste your time it is so boring. I would rather suffer from diarrhea than have to listen any longer to this dribble dialogue. Save your valuable time, go read even a bad book on the John, than watch this stinkfest.I have to give it a 1 out of 10 rating as this is the minimum mandatory IMDB rating. In truth, I would have paid money to someone who could have forewarned me not to watch this crap. I mean real boring crap!

I'll start by saying I'm NOT a fan of Thora Birch in anything since she grew up, so that was a challenge right off the bat. Her "acting" in Dungeons and Dragons sank that film all by itself! I watched 40 minutes of The Competition despite her being a very wooden actor because I thought it was a cute, frothy concept and I really like Claire Coffee ever since I watched her in Grimm. But as others have noted, whoever did Hair, Makeup, and Wardrobe was inept or asleep at the wheel and I found it, along with the wooden acting by Birch, too much to get past to make it to the end of the film. I have no complaints about the other actors except perhaps her Mother's boyfriend who I found smarmy but maybe that is the point - can't say. But visually Birch's clothes were so ugly and unattractive and her hair - what is that about? The makeup was no better.The guys (except as previous noted) seemed genuine and believable. Their interactions were honest and their acting was good - no complaints there. Claire Coffee was good as always! I think it could have been a nice RomCom had the casting of the female lead been better and the hair/makeup/wardrobe not been a fail. Mind you - I'm not saying Birch isn't pretty enough or even that the female lead has to be pretty because she doesn't. But these failures were a distraction on top of her poor acting in every scene that made me completely turn off of her character which made it impossible for me to watch the rest of the film.

I watched this movie just because i loved the trailer. Story is unusual. Acting is great, i didn't regret watching it at all. Still believe there are good men out there.