This rehash of similar themes from writer/director/star Edward Burns' cinematic debut The Brothers McMullen (1995) plays, as does most of his work, like Woody Allen filtered through a sitcom lens, exploring some of the same themes and types of characters but without the penetrating psychological and behavioral insight. It's certainly not that Burns makes bad pictures; inspired by the city's most beloved filmmaker, his slices of New York life are welcome attempts to create stories of depth and intelligence. It's just that, so far in his career as a filmmaker, Burns is too content to fall back on stereotypes and trite ideas about human conduct. Where Allen's influences are legendary European filmmakers such as Ingmar Bergman and Eric Rohmer, as well as classic works of literature and philosophy, Burns seems most influenced by TV shows and pop culture. He's simply too quick to find the answers to dramatic and character dilemmas by looking to the glib, the easy, the mainstream. There's also an interesting but disturbing undercurrent of misogyny running throughout much of his work, whether it's the father played here by John Mahoney consistently insulting his children by referring to them in feminine terms or the self-absorbed capriciousness of so many of the filmmaker's female leads, from this film's trio of Maxine Bahns, Jennifer Aniston, and Cameron Diaz to the puzzling troublemaker played by Lauren Holly in No Looking Back (1998). It's easy to be tough and demanding on an artist who's aspiring to such lofty heights, but he's shown his audience that he wants to be regarded as the Irish-American equivalent of some cinematic icons, so Edward Burns must be held to an almost ludicrously high standard. By that measure, She's the One (1996) isn't the best that he can do, but he's earned the right, by shooting so high, to try and try again. More power to him.