Wanderlust

Wanderlust – 98min – R

This is a 98 min long comedy sketch that really only has about 5 min of good material. This is a fish out of water story that is poorly told and I don’t feel sorry for those fish gasping for air and flopping around on the floor. The cast hold tight to the roles they have been given and they play them to the hilt but it’s just not entertaining enough to hold for this length of time. There are some truly reprehensible characters in this film, and it’s painful to watch them. I started out aiming for a yellow light on this film but as I sit here and think about it, it’s really a red.

George (Paul Rudd) and Linda (Jennifer Aniston) live in Manhattan. They both lose their jobs and are forced to move across country to live with George’s douche bag brother, Rick (Ken Marino). I rarely use language like to describe people but this character personifies that term. They fall in with some people living in a 60s style commune. This group is “not” lead by the “not” leader Seth (Justin Theroux) who welcomes them into the group. They have an awkward time adjusting to the open lifestyle and learn a lot about each other and about themselves along the way.

The problem with this movie is that it really does not have any characters that you feel for. They go for all of the obvious jokes about the “Hippy” lifestyle. The hippies are outrageous characterizations and just the slightest bit offensive at times. They tried to encompass all various lifestyles: nudist, earth mothers, sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. George and Linda are really not enjoyable even with the transformation to the new life style. They come off as awkward and forced and I felt absolutely nothing for their journey.

This movie was directed by David Wain who has a long list of episodic television shows under his belt. This may be why this movie feels like a very long sitcom, his other films were low brow films as well and they seemed to be better paced than this one. As he was the co writer as well he takes the brunt of this movie’s failures. Ken Marino was the other writer, and I am shocked that he did not write a better role for himself.

Spoiler warning!! If you are worried about being brought down by the Man. Don’t click here!!!

The only really chuckle worthy part was when George was in the bathroom in front of the mirror talking himself up to have sex with someone other than his wife. The level of vulgarity starts off small and then just escalates to the ridiculous. I giggled at the start and was laughing as it went on. And then was mortified as he continued it when he was actually in front of the person he was intending to cheat with.

Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele were great in this film. Keegan was a yes man for a short bit and Jordan played a member of the community. I love their work on Key & Peele they need to be more in the spotlight and less on the sidelines. Was it my imagination was Jordan’s character the only person of color in the community?

This movie again fails at a sufficient ending. It seemed like they ran out of money and decided to do a bunch of cut scenes to reincorporate some other jokes in the film. BUT I was glad it was over so I should not complain.

What was a scene you liked in a bad movie? In this one I really only liked one scene, it was childish and immature, but I am ok with how it made me laugh in a movie that was really devoid of them.

Your Highness

Your Highness – 102 min –R

I thought the AC was on in the theater because I felt a breeze. As it turns out the breeze was coming from all of the sucking from the screen. There is not enough red in the world to express how bad this movie was. I am a fan of at least two of the performers, so I thought if nothing else, I could see past all of the poor aspects of this film and focus on them. No, I couldn’t. I ended up feeling sorry for them and wondering what tragic series of events resulted in them performing in this movie. Perhaps they lost a bet. I typically try and say something good about a movie even if I did not like it. So, let me think. Hum. Oh, I have one; I never have to see this movie again.

The story takes place in a fantasy world where there are two princes: Fabious (James Franco), the classic hero-type and Thadeous (Danny McBride), his lazy, stoner brother are forced to quest together when Fabious’s bride, Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel), is kidnapped by the evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux). On their journey they get some help from a fellow hero named Isabel (Natalie Portman). They stumble and bumble from one profane joke to the next without really doing anything. This film is one long string of vulgar jokes that focus on drugs, sex and other sophomoric hijinks.

This movie fails because of a poor concept. It all starts with the script, or stopped in this case. The ones to blame are Danny McBride and Ben Best. When writing crude humor it needs two parts, not just vulgarity but also cleverness. Giggling at your own fart jokes is not entertainment. The Director, David Gordon Green, has done some good stuff in All the Real Girls and George Washington. He has even worked with the stoner genre in Pineapple Express so it’s not like he is unfamiliar with this kind of subject matter, the only thing I can think of is that it’s the script. You can see from a production stand point where the cast and crew were really trying to make this work. The cast is giving it their all, but it’s hard to offset the complete lack of substance in the script.

I can see how this project got funding, if you add up the elements separately you might have a good product here. Some real named talent for the cast, a great crew in Tim Orr cinematographer, Craig Alpert for editing and Gary Freeman for art direction. So far so good we have a good crew and cast and having Gordon at the helm, looking good. Um, did anyone stop and read the script before setting off with the prize winning ensemble? I am guessing no.

I was only brought to this movie for Portman and Deschanel. I have liked their work in the past and looked forward to seeing what they do with this challenge. I ended up feeling bad for them. It was like watching someone tell a really bad joke and they are completely oblivious as to the depth of the embarrassment at its failure. They really had nothing to do in the film, each of them were nothing more than decoration for all they were given to do. What a shame. It’s like having a high performance sports car and never driving it, just park it and look at it.

I wonder sometimes as people are making movies do they see the train wreck they are on or are departments so compartmentalized that they don’t see the work adding up to failure? Or is it something that they can see but have no way of turning away from the enviable crash, so with no other option, they sell it for all they are worth. If you are going to Suck, SUCK BIG!!

This reviews question is around what your thoughts are on why this film failed? OR did you really like it? My apologies if you were unfortunate enough to have watched it. After we have talked about it let’s turn our back on this bad experience and never speak of it again.