With so many recent comic book movies trying to examine the private lives of superheroes, I guess it was only a matter of time before a movie like My Super Ex-Girlfriend came along. This goofy mixture of Fatal Attraction and Superman is light, breezy entertainment thanks to an often witty script by Don Payne (TV's The Simpsons) that skewers both superhero and romantic comedy cliches. If the movie doesn't always work as well as it should, it's certainly not due to the efforts of director Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Twins) or the game cast he's put together. It's not great by any stretch of the imagination, but it can be fun if you're in the right frame of mind.

Common everyman Matt Saunders (Luke Wilson) has no idea what he's getting into when he introduces himself to the seemingly meek art gallery worker Jenny Johnson (Uma Thurman) on the subway one morning. How could he possibly know that mousy Jenny is actually G-Girl, super powered protector of New York City who possesses superhuman strength and the power of flight since being exposed to a meteor that hit the ground one night when she was a teenager? The relationship begins casually at first, but as time goes on, Jenny becomes smitten with Matt's kindness. After all, she deals with saving the world every day and punching out bad guys. That could take its toll on anyone. Matt becomes Jenny's anchor to the normal life she's always dreamed of. So, can you blame her if she goes a little crazy when Matt decides he wants to start seeing other people?

It turns out dating a superheroine isn't quite what Matt expected, as Jenny becomes extremely possessive and controlling around him, since she's so afraid of losing him. When Matt breaks up with her, and starts eyeing his recently single co-worker Hannah (Anna Faris) that he's always had an attraction to, Jenny decides she's not going to play nice anymore, and uses her super powers to make Matt's life a living hell. As Matt watches his world fall apart due to Jenny's interference, he is forced to turn to G-Girl's arch nemesis and former best friend back in high school, Professor Bedlam (Eddie Izzard), a mad scientist who has discovered a Krytponite-like substance that could drain Jenny of her powers, turning her back into a normal woman, thus allowing Matt to go on with his life.

With an interesting premise and a sarcastic sense of humor, My Super Ex-Girlfriend is an often very funny adult sex comedy set in the world of comic books. It expertly parodies the conventions of the genre, and brings to light many questions that comic book fans have often asked. Anyone who has ever wanted to know what it would be like if Superman and Lois Lane ever made love will know when they see the bedroom scene between Matt and Jenny that winds up destroying the entire bed due to Jenny's superhuman strength. The movie throws in some standards of the romantic comedy genres as well. This is probably the first romantic comedy I can remember that had a date interrupted due to the fact that the girl had to race off and redirect a stray missile that was headed for New York. The movie has a lot of fun going head first into its own goofy premise, and doesn't once even try to take itself seriously, which is certainly a plus.

Where the movie slips a little bit is in its mid-section which turns into an over the top and mean-spirited revenge fantasy. Jenny/G-Girl pretty much pulls out all the stops to take vengeance on Matt after he breaks up with her. Everything from launching his car into outer space, to swiping a shark and throwing it right through his bedroom window when he's sharing a romantic moment with his new girlfriend Hannah. The movie stays afloat, thanks mostly to the wonderful comedic performance by Uma Thurman, but it still manages to lose its way a little. The relationship between Matt and Hannah is obviously nowhere near as interesting as the one between Jenny and him during the first half of the film, and it deals too much with Matt's problems on the job, including his very strict boss (Wanda Sykes in a wasted glorified cameo). Things don't start to pick up again until the Professor Bedlam character enters the proceedings, and once again, the cleverness of the script shines through. I like it how they made Bedlam a much deeper and more personable villain than initially made out to be, especially when the truth behind his past between Jenny and him is revealed.

Even when the movie does stray from time to time, the mostly strong cast is there to pick up the slack. Uma Thurman is hilarious as the highly stressed and downright paranoid Jenny/G-Girl who has saved one person too many, and now pretty much saves the world out of necessity instead of actually wanting to do so. She brings the right amount of sexy superheroine cool to her G-Girl persona, and is slightly unhinged without going too over the top as Jenny. As crazy as the character can get, we never hate her, and a lot of that I think has to do with Thurman's performance. Luke Wilson is given the rather thankless job of being the straight man of the pair, and while he does his job well enough, he's just not really given much to do. Same goes for his sex-obsessed best friend (played by Rainn Wilson) who really serves no purpose in the movie itself. Aside from Thurman, the two main stand outs are Anna Faris, who gets to show a sweeter and more sensitive side than she does in the Scary Movie films that she's known for, and Eddie Izzard as Bedlam. Izzard has fairly limited screen time, but he manages to make the most out of every scene he's in.

The end result may be uneven, but My Super Ex-Girlfriend works just enough for me to say I enjoyed it. I probably would have liked it even more if the script went through a couple more drafts, and tightened the long middle section where the film sags a little. Still, it never offends, it's got more than a couple laugh out loud moments, and its got a kind of dark and twisted sense of humor that grew on me after a while. I don't think it will stand a chance in the crowded summer market, but it at least deserves to find an audience at home, which I'm sure it will. My Super Ex-Girlfriend may not live up to its full potential, but at least it doesn't completely squander it.

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