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before she leaves town and finds her at her apartment right while Dan is leaving. Elliot declares his love for her and chases off an old friend of hers who suddenly shows up. Later, they perform together at the same club where they had their first date, with Cecil singing one of her songs and Elliot playing the piano to back her up.
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Elliot plans a romantic dinner with
Caroline but finds her with an anguished Bradley, who just broke up with Sonya and is back flirting with Caroline. Caroline convinces Elliot to take Bradley out with them. They cancel Elliot's reservations to an expensive restaurant and go instead to a burger place
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The next day, Elliot arrives at work to find that Cecil is his temp again. When she proposes to go have a drink together, Elliot explains that after his phone call, the night actually got better for him. As
Caroline accused Elliot of being unromantic, he stood up for himself and accepted to go dance
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About a week before his wedding to his girlfriend, Caroline Swann, Elliot discovers that her high school beau, Bradley, is back in town. Elliot tries to keep himself composed, but even
Caroline's reassurances do not convince him that her feelings for Bradley are buried. In the meantime, Elliot meets
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While out at a bar with his friends from work, Elliot accidentally runs into Dan, who recognizes him as Cecil's "Baxter" friend. Dan is there to meet with Sonya, who's
Bradley's current girlfriend and Dan's old college friend. They all decide to sit together, much to Elliot's chagrin. Both Dan and
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The two meet up again later that night at a small club where Cecil performs her original songs, and Cecil tells Elliot he needs to take more risks. When Cecil fights with her unsupportive boyfriend Dan, Elliot offers to put her up for the night. The next morning, Caroline shows up early with their
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Much light humor is made of showing
Showalter as a "Baxter" in several typical romantic comedy clichés: being abandoned at the altar as a former love is claimed by her high school sweetheart, and being left in college at a pep rally for an underdog sports hero. The plot revolves around the life of
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At
Caroline and Elliot's wedding, Bradley crashes the ceremony and declares his love for Caroline, a split second after Elliot was going to voice his own objection. Caroline finally gives in and kisses Bradley passionately in front of the whole church. Elliot takes off immediately to catch Cecil
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wedding planner to finalize their plans. Elliot panics due to Cecil's hidden presence and during the meeting, makes a string of awkward suggestions, upsetting
Caroline, who begins to doubt his commitment to their relationship, to the point of calling off the wedding.
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Cecil, his temporary secretary at his accounting firm. As he resigns himself to losing
Caroline to Bradley, Cecil offers him a ray of hope: she does not believe in "Baxters" and thinks that his predicament is avoidable.
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Bradley laugh and joke with Elliot's friends until one of them mentions that
Caroline left him. Depressed and upset, Elliot leaves and contemplates suicide but he's interrupted by Caroline's brother-in-law, Louis (
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that
Bradley knows well. Elliot feels out of place and eventually calls Cecil from the back of the restaurant, confessing that he feels that his marriage will be over before it begins.
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is right there at the center of the movie, and maybe it is unavoidable: Showalter makes too good of a baxter. He deserves to be dumped." John Anderson of
598:, the film has an approval rating of 32% based on reviews from 75 critics, with an average score of 5.05/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "
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routines, accidentally hitting Elliot in the face, to Caroline's concerns. Bradley apologizes and reveals that he will leave the next morning to
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Elliot Sherman during the two weeks before his wedding, as he doggedly fights off the curse of his former Baxter role in relationships.
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Though happy for him, Cecil is saddened by the news because of her growing feelings for Elliot. She mentions that Dan is moving to
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In a mid-credits scene, Dan reflects in narration on his own status as a Baxter, having just lost the girl to the leading man.
356:. A "Baxter", as defined by the film, is the nice, dull guy in a romantic comedy who is dumped at the end of the story for the
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and she's going to follow him there, to Elliot's discomfort.
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683:"The Baxter Movie Review & Film Summary (2005)"
58:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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634:"The Baxter (2005) - Financial Information"
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349:film written by, directed by and starring
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118:Learn how and when to remove this message
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370:financed the film and produced it with
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888:Films directed by Michael Showalter
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681:(September 8, 2005).
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19:For other uses, see
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805:The Big Sick
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702:"The Baxter"
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679:Ebert, Roger
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661:. Retrieved
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652:"The Baxter"
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306:Running time
283:Release date
247:Craig Wedren
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67:"The Baxter"
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50:Please help
45:verification
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638:The Numbers
606:Roger Ebert
536:Seth Herzog
524:A. D. Miles
388:leading man
358:protagonist
226:Sarah Flack
165:Produced by
147:Directed by
868:2005 films
862:Categories
789:The Baxter
735:The Baxter
724:The Baxter
620:References
610:The Baxter
600:The Baxter
572:Ken Marino
566:Sarah Drew
518:David Wain
435:Cincinnati
420:breakdance
408:David Wain
342:The Baxter
331:Box office
310:91 minutes
294:2005-04-24
257:Production
157:Written by
133:The Baxter
78:newspapers
586:Reception
568:as Serena
506:Paul Rudd
499:as Stella
430:student.
368:IFC Films
334:$ 181,872
276:IFC Films
216:Edited by
594:website
485:Zak Orth
384:Brooklyn
351:comedian
323:Language
235:Music by
177:Starring
706:Variety
663:May 23,
326:English
315:Country
292: (
259:company
210:Tim Orr
92:scholar
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792:(2005)
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428:geode
424:Malta
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85:books
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448:Cast
378:Plot
71:news
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