Table for Three

Table for Three casts Brandon Routh as Scott Teller, a recently-dumped young man who agrees to let a seemingly perfect couple (Sophia Bush’s Mary and Jesse Bradford’s Ryan) move into his apartment – with trouble ensuing as Mary and Ryan’s myriad of problems eventually threaten Scott’s blossoming relationship with the girl of his dreams (Jennifer Morrison’s Leslie). There’s little doubt that what starts out as an affable romcom eventually devolves into a mess of unreasonably over-the-top comedic set-pieces, as the increasingly pervasive emphasis on elements of a hopelessly broad nature ultimately cancels out the charismatic performances and promising setup. Filmmaker Michael Samonek’s reliance on eye-rollingly stale conventions (eg before settling on Mary and Ryan, Scott meets with a steady stream of unreasonably inappropriate roommates) inevitably exacerbates the movie’s progressively intolerable atmosphere, with the pervasive lack of laughs ensuring that even the most easy-going of viewers will eventually be forced to throw up their hands in frustration. It’s also worth noting that the film seriously overstays its welcome, as Samonek offers up a frustratingly prolonged third act that just seems to go on and on (ie was the wacky road trip really necessary?) And although Johnny Galecki has a few choice lines as an impressively bitter former friend of Bush and Bradford’s couple from hell, Table for Three‘s place as an aggressively misbegotten romantic comedy is ultimately confirmed time and time again.

*1/2 out of ****