I guess I should start out by saying that I’m a total hypocrite. As I was wracking my brains trying to think of some fresh, ingenious way to start off this article (in which I will be reviewing a film I saw at the Staller Center, in case my title doesn’t suffice), I wanted to gently lecture, shall we say, my fellow students, on the fact that when I showed up for the said film night, I saw not one face that was under the age of 50. Not one. Well, with the exception of the ushers and the person with whom I saw the film.

I was going to open this article by stressing the fact that despite the Staller Center’s obvious location on the Stony Brook campus, strangely enough, there were no Stony Brook students to be found. Then I realized how hypocritical it would be of me to harp on this fact when, to be completely honest, I should have graduated last May and only last spring did I actually ever start going to events at the Staller Center myself.

Let me digress. The film is what I’m supposed to be discussing, and the particular film that I’ll be reviewing is ‘The Treatment’ directed by Oren Rudavsky. The first of the Staller Center’s double feature to be shown, I can best categorize ‘The Treatment’ as a romantic comedy, but barely. I wanted to like the film, I really did, but there was just something about it that didn’t hit home with me.

The film revolves around the life of Jake (Chris Eigeman), a Manhattan schoolteacher who (surprise!), can’t seem to shake off the shattered remnants of his past romantic relationships after running into (or casually stalking?) a former flame, who informs him that she’s settling down and getting married. This unexpected and ill-received news seems to be enough of a catalyst for Jake to start seriously questioning and considering the romantic failures in his life, along with the ‘help’ of his Freudian psychoanalyst (Ian Holm), who is nothing but intrusive and pushy.

The so-called ‘treatment’ that Jake undergoes at the hands of his psychoanalyst are questionable methods at best, some of which include expounding upon sexually explicit details of Jake’s tentatively blossoming romance with Allegra (Famke Janssen).

It’s clear that Rudavsky’s goal is to have his viewers sympathize and relate to the character of Jake and his romantic foibles, but it was very unclear to me with what exactly to sympathize. Although Jake’s character was somewhat endearing as possessing a socially awkward, witty and deadpan sense of humor, the rest of his character was hazy, vague and undefined, and beyond Jake’s brief moments of comedic humor, the rest of the dialogue fell flat.

Overall, ‘The Treatment’ was somewhat of a disappointment. Its characters seemed to have no real depth and connection with its audience, and the storyline seemed to meander aimlessly while taking me reluctantly along with it. Jury says? Better luck next week.