Men Seeking Women Movie Review

For a direct-to-video movie, Men Seeking Women is far funnier than it has any right to be. Will Ferrell is a hoot and Grant Shaud is surprisingly effective as losers (of a gang of three, including Anthony Palermo) who bet $2,000 each in a desperate attempt to find love. They hope the bet will spur them to get off their butts -- and that starts with the personal ads and blind dates.

The scheming of Palermo's prototypical Italian is of little interest (he gets an old girlfriend to play nice with him), but Ferrell's ultra-loser, whose hearfelt appeal to the sky in the Hollywood Hills is met with jeers from the locals, shines. Shaud's dalliance with a married gal (is hubby a mobster?) is relatively lame, though his equally pathetic character is goofy enough to make his few scenes fun.

The key to Jim Milio's film is that he lets the three men's stories bouncing around enough to keep you from getting bored. It's not terribly surprising or even all that original, but Ferrell's naturally funny-man abilities keep Men Seeking Women above water. Treading water, but still worth a peek if you can't find anything else to rent.