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Daniel Taplitz’s film starts with a clever premise: break-ups should be like firings, complete with a handbook and a universally acknowledged set of guidelines. It’s the Donald Trump approach to relationships. When Quincy (Jamie Foxx) is dumped by his fiancée, he realizes that if she had done a better job of it, he wouldn’t be so shattered. In response, he writes a bestseller on how to end a relationship. Then, unfortunately, the high jinks begin. He meets a woman (Gabrielle Union) who is dating his cousin (Morris Chestnut), who turns to him for break-up advice. Naturally, Quincy falls for her, and though Foxx and Union generate some chemistry, there isn’t much they can do with the story they’ve been handed. Foxx has a recurring — and creepy — bit about how a man in love should be able to bite through his own flesh. Don’t ask how he arrived at that Hannibal Lecter conclusion. A ridiculous and unfunny subplot involving Quincy’s publisher (Peter MacNiccol) and the golddigger who won’t take no for an answer makes the film drag, and Taplitz lacks the finesse to gloss over the script’s weaknesses. Foxx and Union deserve better — they should consider breaking up with their agents. (85 minutes)
BY BROOKE HOLGERSON
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