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My Super Ex-GirlfriendScott BowlesFinally, a superhero who enjoys being one. My Super Ex-Girlfriend manages to do what the recent crop of crime fighters haven't: show us how much fun it might be to fly, or have super strength, or look buff in spandex. And who better to show that than Uma Thurman, who, with this performance and those in the Kill Bill films, is becoming Hollywood's most dependable female action hero. Part romantic comedy and part parody of Superman and Fatal Attraction, Girlfriend skewers both superhero films and romantic comedies. And it does so with surprising deftness; Girlfriend is not only the funniest film of summer; it may be the best superhero film since Spider-Man. Thurman stars as Jenny Johnson, aka G-Girl, a beautiful caped crusader whose moniker is never explained (Great Girl? G-String Girl?). Jenny may have super powers, thanks to a radioactive meteor she touched as a child, but she's still a woman. A lonely woman. Enter Matt Saunders, played with typical aw-shucks understatement by Luke Wilson. When Matt saves Jenny from a purse-snatcher (sort of), she agrees to a date, and romance blossoms. Instead of unfolding in standard boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-wins-girl fashion, the film deconstructs a relationship between two people who never should have gotten together. Jenny, it turns out, is vindictive, jealous and manipulative - "the trifecta," as pointed out by Rainn Wilson, who plays Matt's well-meaning, judgment-impaired buddy. When Matt begins courting a co-worker, Jenny isn't afraid to use her powers to exact revenge. Girlfriend soars from here, primarily by applying a real-world view to the superhero canon. Superman uses his powerful lungs to put out building fires. G-Girl uses hers to dry her toenails. Our super-villain, Professor Bedlam, played with joyous camp by Eddie Izzard, can be reached on his website. Girlfriend also addresses the true questions we'd ask if we had superpowers. What is superhero sex like? Would we get back at that date who never called again? Would we fry his goldfish with our X-ray vision? Or throw a live great white shark through his new girlfriend's window? The effects are cheesy, and that only helps the film. While other action movies spend millions on effects that substitute for story, Girlfriend seems to relish putting Thurman and Wilson in front of a green screen. Their hair barely blows when they're 5,000 feet above ground. You will not believe a woman can fly. And you won't care. Thurman and Wilson have an easy chemistry here that gives the movie real heart and even a sincere message about the danger of playing carelessly with someone's heart.
Particularly someone who can chuck a man-eating shark your way.
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