Rating of
2.5/4
A Wandering, Inconsistent Comedy
mitchellyoung - wrote on 08/15/12
I wanted to like this movie and I did like large portions of it. Ultimately, it's a plotless meandering (not unlike the characters it portrays) that focuses more on its individual jokes than creating a cohesive comedy that flows. The unevenness of the film is helped a little by the talented cast, who all go for broke, uttering some of the script's more ridiculous lines with comedic energy that works, for the most part. Justin Theroux is a standout and a lot of the supporting and smaller roles are populated by talented comedians that make the most of the material (frequent Wain collaborators Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter have some pretty funny cameos.) That said, in the hands of a better director the material could have really worked. David Wain, who I think is way better when he directs for TV, produces some gloriously funny scenes, but not enough to make a truly transcendent comedy.
