The Competition (2018)

Of all of the zany ideas for Hollywood romantic comedies, this one has to be one of the strangest. A couple, Calvin and Lauren, falls in love, but the relationship is built around an infidelity competition. The couple will test their best friends who will be seduced by a stranger. If the majority of the guinea pigs reject the seduction and remain faithful, then Calvin and Lauren will remain permanently in their relationship. But if the test subjects succumb to their lust, then the Calvin-Lauren relationship will end in six months. What a bummer of a compact for an interpersonal relationship?After setting out this inane premise, the filmmakers do not even execute it very well. The comedy should have been based on the five competitions where the five couples are tested. But as we approached the "last" test for Calvin's friend Jacob, I had only counted three previous tests that had taken place. Either the filmmakers goofed and forgot one of the five tests...or I lost interest somewhere along the way...or both!The film had a spark of potential because the two leads had some chemistry at those rare moments when they were not obsessing on their competition. Still, Chris Klein overacted his role of Calvin, while Thora Birch underacted her interpretation of Lauren. It was as if Klein was back in one of his "American Pie" farces, while Birch was recycling her moody daughter character in "American Beauty."There is earlier film called "The Competition" from 1980, which is about the rivalry of two concert pianists. That film involves a real competition, it includes some light-hearted moments, and it is still an eminently watchable film today. Unfortunately, the more recent competition film included some lovely footage of Portland, Oregon, but never rose to the level of either a memorable romance or a comedy.

The script is terrible, hair is distractingly bad, bad over acting. The only redeeming quality is the cinematography.

Bland forced acting. Annoying characters. Terrible casting.

A woman only dates men for 6 months, some guy is persuaded to try and seduce her. He falls for her then, for a laugh, they wreck loads of his friends relationships.This is basically a twist on Never Been Kissed - which I am ok with - but it lacks in most areas.The leads are especially weak here. I like Thora Birch but she is really badly cast here. She hasn't got enough warmth to carry this off - Chris Klien gives the most wooden performance I have seen since Phantom Menace.The morals of the plot are a bit twisted, It is hard to feel good for the characters when it all comes to a head.Bland, unemotional with no pzazz!