Woman. Man. Woman. Trouble.

Genre: Comedy/Romance
Role: Nadine
Director: Brian Burns
Additional Cast: David Krumholtz, Denise Richards, Dan Montgomery Jr., Jessica Caufield, William Baldwin, Landy Cannon
Production Company: New Legend Media
U.S. Release Date: November 2002 (limited)

• Overview
• Memorable Nadine Quotations
• You Stupid Man Movie Trivia
• Critical Reception
• You Stupid Man Online

Warning: Milla Fan movie overviews may contain spoilers. If you would like to remain 100% unspoiled as to the outcome of the film, we suggest you skip the overview.

Owen (David Krumholtz) seems to have found his perfect match and future wife in the slightly ditzy, starstruck but also incredibly sexy Chloe (Denise Richards), who dreams of making it big in Hollywood. However, their relationship comes to an abrupt end when Chloe moves to Los Angeles in pursuit of a television role and a new man, and refuses to return to Owen despite his willingness to forgive Chloe for her disloyalty. After a surprise visit to LA, Owen returns home as a broken man with a broken engagement, but unexpectedly finds comfort and a soul mate in the sharp-minded Nadine (Milla Jovovich), Chloe’s would-be maid of honor at her and Owen’s now-cancelled wedding. In his pining for Chloe, however, Owen fails to see the gem he has in front of him, and risks losing Nadine forever.

Milla Jovovich portrays Nadine, Chloe’s former to-be maid of honor who finds the perfect friend and partner in Owen, despite a rough start and an unfortunate blind date. However, as Owen is in his affection for Chloe completely oblivious to other potential girlfriend candidates, Nadine is left feeling like the second choice and becomes increasingly frustrated with Owen’s inability to let go of the deceptive and undeserving Chloe to a point at which she finally has enough of him. Will the two ever reconnect again?

More photos at our You Stupid Man gallery!

“Did you just compare me to a dog? You just compared me to a dog.”

["Mustard, mayonnaise..."]
“Yeah, I know what they are.”

["I love you."]

“You love me. Peace, John.”

“Look, Owen. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but a wedding is a very emotional time for a woman. We become incredibly vulnerable – and eager.”
["What are you saying?"]
“I’m saying that you could’ve gotten fucked.”

“You’re not getting a kiss from me tonight.”

["How about a sympathy fuck?"]

“Okay, I was so enjoying myself there.”

“You’re not supposed to have a girlfriend right now. You’re supposed to be sitting at home, eating ice cream and pining over me.”

“And don’t give me that look.”
["What look?"]

“That, ‘Oh Nadine, I’m so sorry you’re gonna end up a weird old lady in the neighborhood who’s buying cat food at the local deli and everyone laughs because they all know she doesn’t even have cats’ – look.”

[laughs] “Aww, you are such a jerk.”

“Blah blah blah. What happened?”

“I can’t believe you just said that. You’re just a stupid man.”

“Oh thank you so much, it’s so nice of you to validate my feelings for me.”

“She didn’t break your heart, Owen. She bruised your ego.”

“Can you just kiss me? You stupid man.”

• In one of the film’s scenes, Nadine and Owen are seen coming out of a movie theatre showing Sidewalks of New York (2001), which was produced by director Brian Burns, and directed by his brother Edward Burns.

You Stupid Man received only a limited theatrical release in the U.S. in November 2002 and went straight to DVD/video in most countries due to low U.S. box office ratings, and thus professional reviews on the film are rather scarce. However, the reviews that are available on the film are rather mixed, some criticizing it for its predictable plot and shameless typecasting, others commending its at times surprisingly clever writing as well as Milla Jovovich’s endearing portrayal of Nadine.

• Rating > Internet Movie Database: 5.8/10 (1,300 user votes counted)

Extracts from professional reviews:

“Instead, we get Richards sleepwalking through yet another variation of the insanely beautiful, goggle-eyed blonde vixen she’s portrayed a dozen or so times before, and Jovovich struggling mightily — and failing — not to act Krumholtz right off the screen. To its credit, Burns’s script crackles with bouncy dialogue and lively supporting characters, including the newlywed couple engagingly played by Dan Montgomery Jr. and Jessica Cauffiel. It just doesn’t go anywhere we haven’t already been in far too many other romcoms. You Stupid Man isn’t fresh, isn’t funny often enough (although there are a handful of good laughs interspersed within the ennui), and never makes us identify with or invest in its off-putting leading man or its miscast leading women.” – Michael Rankis, DVDVerdict

“Would it help to know that writer/director Brian Burns is the brother of film maker/actor Edward Burns? Now I’m not saying Burns set out to copy Woody Allen, but if you are going to shoot a comedy about neurotic New Yorkers and their love problems, you are inviting comparison. Jovovich is nothing but great as Nadine, bringing a very good emotional range to an otherwise mono-emotional screenplay. She has a smoldering “are you fucking kidding me?” look every time Krumholtz opens his mouth that had me grinning.” – Charles Tatum, Hollywood Bitchslap

“While You Stupid Man is generally well made and surprisingly well acted, writer/director Brian Burns’ excessive reliance on romcom cliches quickly transforms the flick into an unusually tedious experience. [...] Likewise, the filmmaker’s decision to pepper the storyline with various quirky elements does nothing to alleviate the decidedly nonsensical vibe (a problem that’s exacerbated by an almost complete lack of plot). Burns’ efforts to infuse the movie with a New York-based, Ed Burns sort of feeling fall flat, as the director is either unable or unwilling to bring anything new to the table (and yes, he is related to Ed Burns). Jovovich’s warm performance is one of the film’s few positive attributes, while Krumholtz makes for a surprisingly convincing leading man (although he occasionally steps over the line into smugness).” – David Nusair, Reel Film

Personal Thoughts

Though I have to admit romantic comedy isn’t my first choice movie genre (read: I hate them), I also have to admit I quite enjoyed You Stupid Man, despite its uninteresting title and thorougly predictable plot. Although the film has its awkward moments, it also contains some clever, snappy one-liners, mostly thrown in by Nadine, and out of the entire cast only Denise Richards is a genuine disappointment, bringing little character into her, albeit rather corny, role of Chloe. I’d be happy to rewatch this one again some time!

Milla’s Jovovich is simply delightful as Nadine. She has excellent comedic timing, and her colorful portrayal of the outspoken and smart Nadine definitely stands out among the other, mostly mediocre performances. Of course, it does help that Nadine is given a large portion of the film’s funniest one-liners, but Milla’s performance nevertheless showcases what an eye she has for detail, communicating sarcasm, emotional turmoil and whatnot with the subtlest of expressions, thus bringing some realism into an otherwise overacted film (of which the aforementioned Richards was particularly guilty throughout).

Below are some You Stupid Man related links that may be of interest to you.

• You Stupid Man official site
• You Stupid Man TFL-approved fanlisting
• You Stupid Man TFL-approved Nadine character fanlisting
• You Stupid Man at IMDb.com
• You Stupid Man at RottenTomatoes.com
• You Stupid Man at Wikipedia.org

• Brian Burns at IMDb.com
• Brian Burns at Wikipedia.org