The characterisations here are definitively subpar. No one looks or sounds like the people they portray, except for Laura Aikman, who looks quite a bit like and acts very much like her part. Therein lies the rub. Far too much effort to get that right that everything else fell by the wayside. The title is a misnomer, to say the least. It's not about Archie, it's not about Cary. It's about Dyan. It should have been called "Dyan, Me, Me, Me and the 6 years I spent with that guy to whom I've served up a narcissistic manipulation pie with a light sprinkle of powdered truth".
He said it best, everything is a confrontation to her. And every confrontation in this lifetime movie of the week is a character assassination for every acquaintance she makes. Everything that goes wrong is always someone else's fault. He does drugs, he sold the dog, he's overbearing and controlling, his mother is a beach, his biz partner is a time stealer. Despite all her obvious flaws, the production makes everyone else out to be the bad guy and poor misunderstood her. Every scene is manicured and curated to paint everyone else in a bad light, and even when you think that maybe there's a bit of balance here, it quickly turns to self-victimizing pandering, expecting the audience to be too stupid to see it.
An excellent study into the true character of a bitter ex-lover, but very little in the way of the person for whom we were duped into thinking it was about. It might think it's subtle, but it's not.
