Everyone knows that Vince Vaughn’s best friend is Jon Favreau. But it seems that Vince hasn’t exactly been honest with his old pal Jon; Vince has become so frustrated that he hasn’t worked on screen with his friend in a while (Couples Retreat doesn’t count, as it was so bad the pair would surely rather forget it ever happened, just like audiences did) that he’s gone and got a new BFF for this new film; not only that, but he’s the spitting image of him. And the secrets don’t end there.

Ronny (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Kevin James) are about as tight as two friends can be. Not only have they known each other for years, but they’ve also started up their own business together; Nick is the brains of the outfit and Ronny the charmer.

They’ve got to the stage in their relationships where double dating is no big deal. Nick and his wife Geneva (Winona Ryder) often hang out with Ronny and his long term partner Beth (Jennifer Connelly). The group is even tighter by the fact that Ronny not only new Geneva before Nick, but actually introduced them to one another.

Everything is about as rosy as can be until Ronny, whilst checking out a floral venue where he hopes to propose to Beth, catches sight of Geneva in a romantic embrace with another man (Channing Tatum). And yes, they even snog.

Ronny’s mind goes into overdrive as he wrestles with this dilemma: does he tell his best friend or not? The longer he keeps this information from Nick, the worse life gets for Ronny. He decides to confront Geneva, but that only seems to add fuel to this complicated fire. He soon learns that secrets and relationships aren’t a great mix.

Let me put it this way Vince, you know that saying 'three strikes and your out'? Well...

If you look through the rather splendid directing career of Ron Howard, you’ll find very few all-out comedies on his impressive CV. And although he narrated and produced the excellent Arrested Development for TV, The Dilemma doesn’t change that fact; problem is though, it claims to be a comedy.

The first stumble comes by way of Vince Vaughn. It’s been over five years now since he’s had a proper hit, and his desperation is almost visible on his face. It’s true that if you want witty, off the cuff banter, he’s your man. As soon as you throw in things like emotions and relationship problems however, he soon finds himself in a whole new ball game.

To add to the pressure, he has to switch from drama to comedy in quick succession again and again. And Vaughn isn’t that kind of actor. There’s a great supporting cast here – including the resurrection of Ryder who seems to have put her career back on the rails, alongside the clothes she tried to steal – but Vaughn doesn’t often get the opportunity to unload his heavy acting burden.

Then you have the problem of Kevin James. James in himself isn’t the problem – he’s actually quite amiable – it’s just the part has Jon Favreau written all over it. If we didn’t know any better we’d say that James’ face has been CGI’d to Favreau’s head and body. Not only does it look a bit wrong but it also feels wrong. It would be like Hardy doing a comic routine without Laurel, and to make matters worse, doing it with Adam Sandler.

Where the film is truly muddled however is in its direction. Howard often seems at odds with the genre he’s directing. There’s an obvious clunk whenever he shifts from comedy to drama, then back again. Although it’s billed as a comedy, the film really wants to be taken more seriously than that. Unfortunately for all concerned the scriptwriter Allan Loeb, who was also responsible for the lacklustre Wall Street sequel and the plainly dreadful (The Switch just can’t deliver the goods. Someone needs to tell him that one funny scene (that actually appears in the trailer, you can’t miss it) not a comedy makes.

Hopefully everyone has learnt a lesson here: Howard shouldn’t bother with comedies; and Vaughn and Favreau should kiss and make up, for the sake of Vaughn’s dwindling career.