Director: Bernie Goldmann, Melisa Wallack   
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Jessica Alba, Elizabeth Banks, Timothy Olyphant   
Running Time: 97 minutes   
Distributor: Festive Films   
Release Date: Undated   
Rating: TBA

Not to be confused with Meet Dave, Eddie Murphy’s most recent opus, Meet Bill stars the always excellent Aaron Eckhart as the titular Bill, a woebegone middle-aged banker who is forced out of his stupor when his wife, Jess (Elizabeth Banks), cheats on him with the cheesy Chip (Timothy Olyphant), a local TV newsman.
    
By turns humorous and heartbreaking, Meet Bill was directed by first-timers Bernie Goldman and Melisa Wallack, who have a little trouble with tonal control in certain patches, but who generally do a good job portraying an everyday guy in crisis. There are enough winning moments to recommend the picture.     

Bill’s mentoring relationship with a teenage boy is at the heart of Meet Bill, and the cute part is that it’s the boy who ends up mentoring Bill rather than the other way around. Known only as The Kid (Logan Lerman), Bill’s new buddie re-introduces him to the simple pleasures of life of smoking, boobs, fireworks and swimming.
     
It’s fun to watch Eckhart transform from a guy enduring a bad-hair life to a man generally in control of himself. Eckhart didn’t undergo a Matt Damon-like transformation for the role, but he managed to pile a few kilos on his belly, which he uses to good comedic effect. -Jason Johnson

THE VERDICT
Aaron Eckhart turns in another memorable performance in this low-key dramedy.