by SARAH ROWLAND

Man grows some grays. Man realizes he sold his soul to a thankless corporation. Man fears he’s turning into his old man. It’s a textbook case of midlife crisis syndrome and King of the Corner treats it accordingly by offering nothing new on the topic.

The nervous breakdown in question comes courtesy of Leo Spivak (Peter Riegert, who also directs), a marketing master who has spent most of his adult life hosting focus groups where he hawks every kind of infomercial product imaginable—from the moneymaking Gregory Peck voice distorter to the somewhat less successful spray-on spaghetti sauce. Leo’s good at what he does, but he’s got a slippery protégé hot on his heels—not to mention a plethora of personal distractions like a dissatisfied wife (Isabella Rossellini), a 16-year-old daughter who is “out of control” (in fact she stays out two hours past her curfew but you’d think her parents found a crack pipe under her pillow by the way they overreact) and an ailing father, who has decided to spend his last few months on earth reminding Leo of all the many sacrifices he has made for his son.

With so much suckage in Leo’s life, it’s no big surprise when he does what every unfulfilled, 50-something man on the big screen does: He starts sabotaging his spirit-crushing yet highly lucrative job and screwing around on his wife.

In addition to the stock approach to its subject matter, the film feels strangely dated or rather date-less. Presumably it’s supposed to be set in current times, but we only know that because Leo’s daughter is a fan of the Black Keys. Other than this musical cue, King of the Corner could take place in just about any decade from the last 30 years. The jokes are nothing more than ’80s/’90s leftovers and the themes are so turn-of-the-millennium.

Timeliness issues aside, the big moment of truth about Leo’s dad is done quite well. Still, one humorous and heartfelt scene is hardly enough to carry a family dramedy that relies on a recurring Peck gag for its greatest source of laughs.

King of the Corner opens Friday, Feb. 3

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