The Souler Opposite

Released 1998
Stars Christopher Meloni, Timothy Busfield, Janel Moloney
Directed by Bill Kalmenson

Here's something we don't see enough of: a grown-up film about dating, commitment, and the niggling little fears that chip away at our best efforts. Christopher Meloni (TV's Law and Order: SVU) stars as Barry, a thirtysomething standup comic with a bitter, sexist act that inflames as many people as it amuses. When a leather clad biker gives his critique with fists, Thea (Janel Moloney of TV's The West Wing), a stable, sensible college student 10 years his junior, picks him up literally and figuratively. They're hardly a perfect match: age differences, lifestyle clashes, and sheer philosophical outlook seem to doom them from the outset. But hope lies in the words of a palm reader who declares them "souler opposites," in other words, made for each other. Meloni is excellent as an overgrown adolescent who struggles against his better nature and devolves into a glib teenager whenever he hangs out with his equally arrested high school buddy (Timothy Busfield,) who fuels his act with more sexist, testosterone-powered rants on sex and women. Moloney gives dignity to her Thea's activism and never plays her new-age mellowness for laughs. She's playful, witty, smart, and just a bit impulsive. Director Bill Kalmenson manages to bring new life to the clichés such romantic comedies are built from by taking a look with a fresh eye. It's a sweetly modest, undeservingly overlooked film that still holds out hope for grown-up love.

Summary by Sean Axmaker

I'm not a fan of romantic comedies because of the inevitable story arc of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back. Going into the movie you know what's going to happen, so then it comes down to execution. Since I couldn't care less about romance, I focus on the comedy in these movies, and "The Souler Opposite" delivers just enough comedy to warrant a luke-warm recommendation. Barry has many throw-away lines, but my favorite was about Governor Jerry Brown being busted in a conspiracy with Mother Theresa to distribute defective condoms to third-world countries. I was lucky I didn't spit Sprite all over the living room on that one. I really enjoyed the conversations between Barry (Christopher Meloni) and Robert (Timothy Busfield), but the conversations between Barry and Thea (Janel Moloney) consisted of Barry's gentle one-liners followed by his apologies. The movie painted him as a sexist pig, but I thought he was a droll, funny, nice guy. In fact, I thought he was a doormat, but everything he said offended every woman in his presence. I didn't get it, because I never heard him make a single sexist comment (not counting his private conversations with Robert). Maybe I'm not a good sounding board for what pushes reactionary feminist buttons but I think I'm a pretty average guy, and the constant male-bashing got on my nerves. Despite that and a ridiculous tacked-on ending, the glimpses into a struggling comedian's life and the interaction between the two male leads is just enough to save this well-intentioned film. --Bill Alward, December 19, 2002