The Story of Us tries to build on the idea that fleeting emotions can't be trusted when a relationship is at stake. But the sentiment, though true, is hamstrung by Reiner and screenwriters Alan Zweibel and Jessie Nelson. The story is heavily weighted to Willis' side, so that his character comes off looking like a fun-loving guy saddled with an uptight, bitchy wife. The film seems to imply that all the couple's problems would be solved if Pfeiffer would just put out more often (which says more about the filmmakers than the marriage).

But what's unbearable about The Story of Us is the dialogue, which must have been generated by a roomful of bitter, unsuccessful stand-up comics. A character can't just have a book on Thai cooking; it has to be The Wokky World of Thai Cooking. When Willis goes looking for a new home--and settles on a fabulous villa, because the characters we're supposed to identify with in movies are always stinking rich--the real-estate agent points out an obscure acting credit for all of his new neighbors (e.g., "He did the voice of Charlie the Tuna"). The film's lowest point has family friends played by Paul Reiser and Rita Wilson launching into interminable, unfunny, unoriginal monologues about computer porn and toilet paper.