I was interested in this film after I heard an interview with Kevin Kline from Sundance. It sounded like an interesting character study. Kevin Kline always gives his parts a lot of personality. I also wanted to see John C. Reilly, I search out his films and enjoy the creative things that he does with his parts. Unfortunately,the script was not quite up to snuff. I found the characters unlikeable. Poor J.C.R. had to resort to a silly gimmick to make his character even interesting. Mr. Kline did the best he could with a very weak script. It was obvious that he was improvising quite a lot. The younger character had a few interesting parts but overall it was very unorganized. Oh well, I watched until the end and forgot about it.

I have not seen Kevin Kline as funny as he is here in "The Extra Man," since his Oscar winning "A Fish Called Wanda," I thought he would be hysterical as Artemus Gordon in "The Wild Wild West," but I was terribly mistaken. Kline redeems his comic traits in "The Extra Man," the character is zany, and eccentric, fully of mystery, and entertaining stories. His young protégé is also entertaining, with humor, and drama. I thought John C. Riley's performance was quite hilarious, even if it is a small role. The 3 mens antics as a team are funny as well as touching. I would definitely recommend this film be seen. *****

I like the book. I like the directors. I like the actors. I like the location. And, I suppose, I generally like the visual style of the film. Seeing as how there are four legit movie star-level actors in the film (not to mention the expensive shooting locations), I suppose I understand why the film had a $7 million budget ... but, really, you don't see that budget on the screen. In fact, aside from having mostly solid cinematography, this is a very simple movie that could've been made for far less.But, like I was saying, I like the book enough that I can't call this a bad movie - even if I do understand why others might. Kevin Kline is great in what is more or less a comedy of manners, his approach reminding me more so of, say, Withnail & I than American Splendor. Paul Dano, who seems to be becoming something of a one-note actor, does his best with the flimsy adaptation, obviously doing all he can to believe in the vision of the filmmakers (a vision I suspect EVERYONE on the set secretly felt strange about at some point during the shoot).Between this film and HBO's "Bored to Death," I'm convinced that writer Jonathan Ames has no business writing for the screen. Had someone like, I don't know, Woody Allen or Whit Stillman adapted Ames' book, I think this movie would've stood a chance. But, to me, the only thing useful about the movie is Kline's often hilarious performance. And when I say hilarious, I mean hilarious to a very small segment of viewers ... fans of Allen, Stillman, Noah Baumbach and maybe Stephen Frears.

I feel it to be my civic duty to express my opinion to spare the innocent people the agony of enduring this very forgettable train-wreck. The fact that this film was ever classified as a comedy, I will never understand, I didn't see so much as even a chuckle. It took a while , but finally Paul Glaser, Christian Ford, and Roger Soffer can pick their heads back up. This box office flop makes Kazaam look like CaddyShack. What were Sheri Springer Bernan and Robert Pulcini thinking? The entire plot of the Jonathan Ames novel is absent of any true substance. How they thought that it would ever transfer to big screen well is beyond my comprehension. The only good that may ever come from this film would be if president Obama implemented it as a prescription for insomnia sufferers, that would cut the national deficit for sure. Anyone who voluntarily associated themselves with the production of this garbage owes a sincere public apology. Redbox owes me a dollar for stocking the flop! You owe it to yourself to skip this extreme waste of time!