I wasn't sure what to think about this movie going in. The back of "Meet Bill's" box throws a bunch of situations and names at you in an effort to make something stick, but nothing really does. Let me break it down for you:

Aaron Eckhart is the eponymous Bill, who is married to Jess (played by the lovely Elizabeth Banks) and is thus tied to her family's bank. He's got a thankless, no-responsibility job but despises being beholden to his in-laws. When he discovers his wife has been sleeping with another man, his midlife crisis kicks into overdrive. Along the way he's conscripted into a mentoring program at his old high school and meets the kid with no name (Logan Lerman), who gradually makes him realize that he has to lighten up. Jessica Alba is in there too. She's part of a plan to win back Banks, but she's mostly arm candy for Lerman and Eckhart (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Due to a mediocre storyline, casting is what piques your interest in the piece, and even that is up and down. Eckhart is fairly entertaining throughout—his performance in fact gets stronger as Bill transforms into the man he wishes to be—and Lerman does his best to steal the show as the cocksure Kid. The supporting has varying degrees of effectiveness, but on the whole they're forgettable. You're watching for Eckhart anyway; Lerman's just a pleasant surprise.

As far as plot is concerned, there are two major points. One is that the first act is almost mind-numbingly boring. That's kind of the point, as it shows how awful Bill's life is and how unhappy he is in it, but that doesn't excuse it for not being entertaining and/or uninteresting.

The other point is: yes, it does feel a bit like "American Beauty." I know you were thinking it. It's okay. I thought it too. "Bill" does make a point or two about the nature of the mid-life crisis—mostly that you can come out of one alive. So in that sense, it's almost "Beauty's" antithesis. The fact that it's trying to be a comedy is further evidence of that, but "Bill" really isn't trying to reach for such lofty heights. It feels more like coincidence than purpose.

While the feel of the piece is unquestionably different, the plot and even character parallels are hard to ignore. It doesn't feel so much like a rip-off, or even homage, but more of an attempt to remix the themes and theses. The end product is smack in the middle between redux and rehash and not really strong enough to be classified as either. At the same time, I never found myself hating "Bill," just wishing it would get on with itself.

So really, the most remarkable thing about "Meet Bill" is its unremarkable-ness. As such, it gets a strong "meh plus" rating for being wishy-washy and relatively safe but at the same time not terrible.