The Shape of Things

Reviewed by:
Paul Ulane

For anyone who has ever had a manipulative girlfriend, a girlfriend who got her every wish with the bat of an eyelash, or who has at least thought about being with a girl at some point in his life, The Shape of Things will have you wincing from the get-go. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

When dork/museum security guard Adam (Paul Rudd) meets rebel-without-a-bra Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) while on patrol, she takes a shine to him and they begin spending all of their time together. Soon, following every one of Evelyn’s “suggestions” (crack!), Adam becomes a ladies’ man—much to the chagrin of his uptight and engaged friends Jenny (Gretchen Mol) and Philip (Frederick Weller). If it sounds more like a play, that’s because it is one. But director Neil LaBute knows a thing or two about fucking with people (In the Company of Men), and Shape is way more than an ensemble of drama majors on the big screen. The film summons its original stage cast, with Weisz and Mol slipping nicely into their respective roles—and proving able teases—while Rudd looks comfortably uncomfortable as the newly minted lady-killer. But it’s Weller’s resident asshole, constantly goading his made-over friend, that keeps the dialogue (and story…and action…) from devolving into playhouse schlock. Following its perfectly ordinary setup, The Shape of Things quickly molds itself into a giant middle finger for anyone who’s ever accused men of being the only controlling creatures in the battle of the sexes.