From Amazon.com
This generic sex comedy--about a guy who can't decide whether or not to marry his girlfriend because he's still obsessed with a girl he saw in an airport when he was a teenager--really has only one thing to recommend it: Ryan Reynolds (
Coming Soon,
Van Wilder). Reynolds plays the main character's horndog friend who becomes convinced he's gay, and while much of his material is of dubious taste and quality, Reynolds has a mixture of ironic detachment and actor commitment that makes the most of his role. Everyone else--Jerry O'Connell (as the obsessed guy), Bridgette L. Wilson (as his understandably frustrated girlfriend), Ron Livingston, Bill Bellamy, and Alyssa Milano--have their moments, but the script doesn't offer them much to work with. When it isn't drowning in clichés about men and women, it's trying way too hard to be "over the top."
--Bret Fetzer
Review
Buying the Cow features stars from such films as Wildcats, Love Stinks, National Lampoon's Van Wilder, and Def Jam's How to Be a Player, in addition to Alyssa Milano and an awful title. One doesn't approach a film like this with high expectations, and while Buying the Cow may be crude, sexist, and homophobic, it's also much funnier than it has any right to be. The story line is pretty standard stuff for this kind of post-collegiate sex comedy. David (Jerry O'Connell) is afraid to commit to his long-term girlfriend, Sarah (Bridgette Wilson), who wants them to get married. He still thinks he can find his perfect dream girl -- "the one." It's a routine setup, but it's presented brightly enough to hold the audience's interest. Well into the film, a major subplot is introduced involving Michael(Ryan Reynolds), David's womanizing buddy, who wakes up one morning after a fuzzily remembered one-night stand, feeling like he's met the love of his life, only to be greeted by a flamboyant gay man who praises him for his stamina. There follows a ridiculous chase scene, as the panicked Michael flees the apartment naked and is mistaken for a child molester. The scene degenerates from there. It's hard to imagine anyone old enough to be watching the film getting much pleasure out of seeing a little poodle raping an unconscious police dog. The scene is a little too broad, and jars with the more naturalistic tone of the rest of the film. But Reynolds brings a unique energy to the proceedings. Comparable to Jim Carrey, he plays his outrageous slapstick role broadly and bravely, but with a layer of recognizable humanity underneath. It's safe to say that one's reaction to his antics is a good indicator of how much pleasure one will get out of the film. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
