Amy Adler Elliott (Michael Showalter, who also wrote and directed this nice film) is at the altar when suddenly chaos erupts. His bride, Caroline (Elizabeth Banks) has turned away from him to meet a gentleman, Bradley (Justin Theroux) who has "not held his peace". How has this happened? Well, Elliott gives us a backwards peak into the years leading up to this catastrophe. First, E has had the unfortunate luck to always be a "Baxter". This is a pejorative term describing a man or woman who is always a boyfriend/girlfriend's second choice. When you can't be with the one you love, you settle for a Baxter. Poor Elliot. However, in his life story, the viewer can clearly see that there has been one lady of his acquaintance who probably likes him very much. That would be Cecil Mills (Michelle Williams) who temped for E one day when his secretary was ill. As these two were just beginning a conversation about mutual interests, in waltzed the more flashy Caroline, needing accounting advice. So, Elliot gave Cecil short shrift and placed his more eager attention on Caro. Alas, Carrie is interested in E more in the abstract, having had her heart broken by Bradley. In the year before the wedding, Elliott and Cecil would meet again, but it seems E can never see the good thing in front of him and favors the more snooty and financially successful C. But, wait, as E is ultimately jilted, will Cecil still be around when E comes to his senses? This is a very fine film that will please fans of comedy and romance. Showalter is not star-handsome but as the writer-director-leading man of this small gem, one has to hold him in admiration. Banks, Theroux, Peter Dinklage, Zak Orth, Paul Rudd and, most especially, Williams back him up him very well. In fact, Williams steals the show once again as the sweet but non-assertive Cecil. She sings, too! One will also enjoy the Manhattan setting, the great costumes and the other film amenities. Therefore, if your are in search of a new film to give you a bit of rest and relaxation, The Baxter fits the bill.

elshikh4 A story about someone who loves another to discover that love, true love, is totally else where. This critical "second thoughts" problem can be healthy sometimes, helping us to uncover what we really are, and that just served movies best. It turned into an everlasting theme in the romantic comedy; assuring how the world is big romantic comedy we live. This time, the things feel differently. There are no Hollywood stuff; stars, fart jokes, etc. We have a nice cast, performance, and dialog. So what went wrong ? Since the 2000s, the flashback technique became a strange fashion to tell a story, a comic one in specific. You can see that clearly in TV sitcoms like Grounded for Life (2001), My Name Is Earl (2005). This movie uses it in a strange and so excessive way. One of the worst uses is telling the whole story as a flashback (since we saw the ending in the start); sure that ruined the whole movie, making it dead predictable.The story till the accident of the wedding planner was so well, after that things grew less importantly, the pace went lame, and the comedy became real poor. Furthermore, the supposedly funny characters (there are like a dozen of them) weren't so funny themselves. The movie didn't make any efforts to care about such people, hence whenever the event's vitality lessens, something may compensate. But no such luck.(Michael Showalter) made a lovely character. His realistic touch to the kind of geek he performed produced something original. It is a shame not to see him in "big" "Hollywood" "flicks", rather the mainstream cinema. (Michelle Williams) was angelic. For me she was the center of attraction in any scene she was in. At first I refused her wise lines, but afterwards I caught on the fact that her character has much experience than the lead, since she takes risks more than him, living more than one job unlike him.I felt Woody Allen underneath everything; Brooklyn's streets, flats, bars, and bourgeoisie, then a sophisticated nerd for a lead, a handsome cool as a competitor, a singing great girl (who the lead doesn't care about), and a doomed love. Thank god that at least we didn't have to hear Woody's ancient jazz tracks, or follow his ever one-note self here. But on the contrary, this one missed the Allen pace and hilarity. And compared to other American romantic comedies, like (A Guy Thing – 2003) which's nearly has the same story, it missed the same things. Sorrowfully with or without any comparison, (The Baxter) has these problems indeed.This is a very simple movie. A bit of preciosity with a bit of poorness just tarnished big part of its simplicity's beauty, to look finally half good, half empty. Still nice though, having a pure taste of innocence, sweetness, and a multi-allergic intellectual as a romantic lead; to be a gregarious decent man, not a forever laughingstock misfit !. Let alone a rare and hopeful viewpoint : "I don't believe in baxters"; as people who won't find love, now you've got to love that apart.

Keith Gardner I will never give a movie a 10 except my favorite movie of all time, and for that one I won't cast my vote until my final year of life (and so I really hope that I don't get hit by a truck or something before I have a chance to do that! I mean, I'm kind of assuming that I'll know when I'm about to meet my demise so that I'll have a chance to enter my comments here on IMDb!). (Well, actually, I'll probably forget this decree way before then and I'll give some movie or other a 10 and it won't be this excellent film and it won't be that one-and-only most favorite movie of my life, and so the occurrence of my 10-posting will diminish my overall credibility; but I enter these comments knowingly.)So, about this movie. What do you look for in a movie? I know people that just look for escape. They want something that's going to take them away from the world. Then there are those that are looking for entertainment. They just want to laugh, and, well, I guess there's a certain escape factor there as well. And then there are those that look for themselves, or look for some kind of explanation of it all in the cinema. Will you find any of those here? YES!!! You'll find all of them here! This is a great movie! I mean, it's a great sort of high B movie, maybe a great B+ movie, or, god, I'm nervous and sweating, maybe, OK, maybe an A- movie. OK, this is really a great, fun, honest, stupid, silly, funny, realistic, embarrassing, revealing showcase of a fine American film. There's nothing that Truffault or Fellini made that's better than this; we all are just so enamoured of black and white that we think those are all better. ***Possible spoiler here*** (but I won't give it all away, I promise!). At the 55 minute mark, pay attention. This is such a great moment, it's sort of the denouement of the film. It's where they're all (and you'll have to actually see the film to understand who is included in this "all") sitting in this bar and a miraculous turn of events takes place. Is it ridiculous and preposterous? Yes! But has it happened in real life! Well, all I can say is: it's happened to me! There they are, I can't even parse the relationships at this point, but one party from each of the quasi-relationships is here, in this bar, and they all meet up in this one illustrious moment, and they wind up sitting together in this bar and getting drunk and playing some sort of drunken charade, and... well, that's all I'll say. It is marvellous. Maybe Woodie Allen- ish, as others have written, but I dunno; I think it's its own thing. You will have to dunk my head in the toilet to get me to say that I'm wrong about this movie, and good luck catching me! It's just a great movie, period. Small, simple, sweet. Please, don't even tell me how jaded you are if you don't like this film.** (I am not a part of or related to or otherwise in any way affiliated with anyone in or involved with this film. My opinions are my own, I do not wish to quibble.)

ka2006 One star for Michelle Williams. One star for Elizabeth Banks. In that order. Maybe half a star for Theroux (for somehow coming off sleazier than Showalter) and another half for Ian Black (who shows us what got him those Sierra Mist commercials), but I'm not good with fractions so FTS and besides The Baxter gets stripped of at least one full star due to Peter Dinklage's WAY over the top, stereotypical turn as Benson Hedges, the gay, midget wedding planner (he set us back 50 years). Showalter IS a Baxter and he doesn't deserve Cecil. I picked her from the get go and I LOVE Elizabeth Banks. We have to WANT the underdog to win, dude. Actually, Banks didn't seem to have enough to do here. Probably a waste of her talent, although Williams characterization of Cecil is really magnificent. She, probably alone, makes watching this film worthwhile.