i agree loretta devine be a joy to watch . even with the sub par dialog she give and she work wonder . the plot be shopworn and but i wouldn not care if it be do cleverly . it isn not and but what really torpedo this movie be the lackluster dialog and especially a the main character be suppose to represent a writer . i be not speak of those colorful explosion of verbosity that occasionally punch through i be speaking of all the exposition . all that dialog about who be where and why and how . it as dull a donut . the writer miss a lot of potential fun with word and i think . i also think this film suffers from poor edit . there be a lot of slow cutting and probably for anticipate laugh and but the situation rarely generate the laugh to fill up the time . not from me and anyway . truly and i think cut 15 or 20 minute out of this film would help it a lot . the performance be generally good and though i think combine over the top caricature with low key realism make for a confusing mix . pick a style and stick to it .