A Guy's Life

GOODBYE TO ALL THAT (B+) - Otto is having quite a go of it. His wife has dumped him, and he's feeling his way around the modern dating scene, including the Facebook lure of old flames. And he's recovering from a broken foot, suffered during a stupid four-wheeling accident that glaringly symbolizes both Otto's immaturity and his obliviousness.

Angus MacLachlan, who wrote the wonderful "Junebug" in 2005, goes behind the camera for the first time to film his latest script. It's a fascinating character study, pulled off well by the lanky and darkly handsome Paul Schneider ("George Washington," TV's "Parks and Recreation") as Otto.

Poor Otto is totally blindsided by Annie (Melanie Lynskey, understated but effective), who orders him to attend one of her shrink sessions ("You go to therapy?" he wonders aloud to her), where her therapist (Celia Weston) proceeds to inform Otto that his marriage is over. It's a sharp scene -- both funny and heartreaking -- and it sets a strong foundation. What follows is a series of vignettes that can be rather hit-and-miss, depending, in part, on the viewer's tolerance for the male fantasy of having beautiful young women fall all over a scruffy, messed-up manchild.

While struggling to connect with his daughter Edie (Audrey Scott), Otto -- literally limping along -- experiences a series of flings with a parade of hotties of various ages. There's Stephanie (a saucy Heather Graham), a former summer campmate who is organizing a reunion. And we meet Mildred (a smoldering Ashley Hinshaw from "About Cherry"), a modern gal who wants Otto only for the meaningless trysts and who lectures him when he has the temerity to ask her out on a traditional date. The superstar, though, is Debbie Spangler (spunky Anna Camp from "Pitch Perfect"), who is trying to be a good Christian girl (Edie drags Otto to church for an unexplained reasons) but doesn't have a firm handle on her libido or emotions.

Drowning in it, Otto still pines for the one who got away -- former girlfriend Lara (a powerful Heather Lawless), whose availability is revealed only in the final third. It all climaxes with the convergence of several solicitous women leaving an overwhelmed Otto a-fluster. Will he focus on what's important and grow as a human being? We're hopeful.

MacLachlan has a way with dialogue (especially in an otherwise throwaway scene between Otto and his doctor pal), and he captures the delight and terror of being newly single on the brink of 40. He crafts a clear narrative, but it's definitely choppy. The film's parts don't cohere into a fully successful whole. But Schneider, with is strong jaw and a Steve Martin charm and humor, makes you care about how this all turns out in the end.