Barney isn't very kind to himself, even in his own version of the story. Paul Giamatti plays Barney Panofsky, a successful television producer whose company, Totally Unnecessary Productions, makes terrible soap operas. A business that is aptly named, for once. It is this darker version of tongue in cheek humor that pervades the film. Barney cannot ever seem to do it right. First he marries a woman who is having another man's baby--but he remains with the abusive woman until she commits suicide before he moves on to wife number 2. Minnie Driver plays an overbearing woman who seems off-kilter for Barney, but he doesn't realize it until his wedding day, when he meets the love of his life. She is appropriately hesitant to become involved with a man she met at his own wedding, but eventually Barney sheds Minnie Driver and marries his lady love.
So that should be happily ever after, right? Not so with Barney, a man who seems determined to shoot himself in the foot--he becomes jealous that his wife has an admirer, and in that jealous (and drunk) state of mind, he has an affair that leads not only to the end of his marriage but also to what he feared the most--his life is a series of self-fulfilling prophesies--many of which are sad.
The movie is not uplifting, but it is a good look at making sure that you marry for love, and keep your eye on that ball throughout--do not take it for granted, work on keeping the love alive, because the alternatives are far worse.
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