Desmadre vacacional

Amy Poehler and Rachel Dratch are among the funnier women to have been on "Saturday Night Live". It's unfortunate that they, along with Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph, were on SNL during the longest stretch of unfunny writing and sketch-making (circa 2002-2006) the show has ever had. Still, these two women most especially know what's funny, and they know how to write a funny movie.

You'll notice in the credits of this movie that Dratch and director Ryan Shiraki wrote the story for "Spring Breakdown", but who wrote the actual screenplay, consisting of dialogue and all the important fill-in-the-blank material that makes a story into a multidimensional movie? Yep, just Shiraki. Just one guy wrote the dialogue for this movie, and no women apparently wrote the script with him. The result is a pretty cliché spring break movie that doesn't so much spoof the faux holiday as much as exploit it equally as much as MTV does every year.

If Dratch, Poehler, and even co-star Parker Posey could have contributed their handwriting to the screenplay, it would have been far less cliché. The premise is original, being about three thirty-something women who were unpopular in high school (and apparently college, too), and never had the fun spring break trip they allegedly dreamed about. I say "allegedly" because you never quite know what fun is to these characters. They entered talent shows in the past where they sang stale pro-woman anthems like "True Colors", and spend their nights together holding make-your-own-pizza parties. Even though none of them are especially unattractive, the outside world appears to treat them like they are. There's a scene where a blind student of Poehler's (played by Poehler's real life husband Will Arnett) asks her out on a date, only to touch her face and immediately change his mind. If Poehler's character is supposed to be unattractive, they obviously hired the wrong actress.

The movie continues to show promise, even though we have our doubts about the main characters, when Posey's boss, Texas Senator 'Kay Bee' Hartmann (Jane Lynch, funny as always) hires Posey to watch over her unpopular college-age daughter (Amber Tamblyn, playing yet another woman who's attractive in real life, but not in the eyes of any characters in this movie) while she goes to a Laguna Beach-like vacation spot for Spring Break. Poehler and Dratch come along, they reluctantly get boozed up, party like they apparently should have when they were in college, and then comes the ultimate showdown with the sorority bitches, whose leader is Sophie Monk.

Sophie Monk is an incredibly attractive woman who has a body both women and men would kill to have for different reasons. Unfortunately, her movie career is off to a rough start with the abominably unfunny "Date Movie" (2006) and the disappointing "Click" (2006). Here, she plays a Southern belle, although her voice sounds like she stole Delta Burke's voice box. She hams it up a little too much, trying too hard to play a conniving bitch that she comes off as much like a caricature of spoiled college kids as the rest of the extras.

"Spring Breakdown" was released straight to DVD despite the star power of Amy Poehler, but rightly so because the story is way too cliché. It may as well have been called "National Lampoon's Spring Breakdown", and the magazine probably wouldn't have sued for trademark infringement because of the free publicity. If director Shiraki had given at least one woman the creative input, especially Rachel Dratch, this movie would have been great and not nearly as run-of-the-mill as frat-house comedies we've seen before. I know Dratch will come up with another funny concept, and hopefully be allowed to fill in the rest of the screenplay herself. She's funny enough, and she deserves better than this half-baked comedy that would accept Stiffler's brother with open arms.

Gayle O'Brien (Amy Poehler), Becky St. Germaine (Parker Posey), and Judi Joskow (Rachel Dratch) are three friends from State College. They think that things will get better, but 15 years later, they are still losers. Becky works for Senator Hartmann (Jane Lynch). She gets sent down to springbreak to watch over the senator's daughter Ashley Hartmann (Amber Tamblyn) and her friends Lydia (Mae Whitman) and Truvy (Sarah Hagan). Only the three young friends are really just as much of losers as the three older women.

Amy Poehler got some pretty good laughs in. When she was rejected by a blind Will Arnett, that's a funny bit. Parker Posey and Rachel Dratch aren't that funny at all. Dratch chasing after Justin Hartley seems more creepy than funny. As for the younger three, they just don't have enough to do. Amber Tamblyn is pretty good but there might be too many lead characters. Not everybody has the room to breathe.

Hmmm... well, "Spring Breakdown" is a comedy mostly targeted for a female audience. But it is still somewhat of a movie that can be seen by guys as well. However, don't expect to be laughing hard at any time throughout the course of the entire movie.

What works out mostly for the movie is perhaps the female cast, as they did have nice chemistry on the screen and each one brought something unique to the movie in each their own right. And it was also nice to see Seth Meyers, Will Arnett and Jane Lynch make special appearances in the movie.

The story in "Spring Breakdown" is about three ladies in their thirties who travel to South Padre Island in order to look after a senators daughter, but also to have a chance at partying like they never had a chance to do during their youth.

For a comedy, then I found myself, oddly enough, not really laughing at any point during the movie. That being said, then I am not saying that the movie is bad or boring, the humor just wasn't in my liking. The movie is still entertaining enough for what it was.

Unfortunately then "Spring Breakdown" is a very generic comedy that doesn't bring anything new or overly interesting to the comedy genre.

Released in 2009 and directed by Ryan Shiraki, "Spring Breakdown" is a comedy about three geeky women in their mid-30s (Amy Poehler, Parker Posey & Rachel Dratch) who finally decide to get "with it" by going to Spring Break at the notorious South Padre Island, Texas. They're supposed to keep an eye on a senator's daughter (Amber Tamblyn) so she doesn't get out of hand. Jane Lynch plays the politician whereas Missi Pyle is on hand as a party girl.

The plot is cute, there are some quietly amusing bits and the raunch is thankfully kept at bay, but this is mostly a missed opportunity. I think females will appreciate it more than I did; it screams "chick flick." It does, however, show the awful truth about the bikini & beer subculture built around Spring Break (pukin' on the beach and having sex with a total stranger while dead drunk; yeah that sounds like fun – woo hoo!).

The film runs 84 minutes and was shot at South Padre Island, Texas, and Long Beach & Los Angeles (UCLA), California.

GRADE: C- (4.5/10)

I don't think this movie is for everyone. But I saw it this weekend in Seattle and I thought it was so funny. I haven't laughed that hard during a movie in long time. I thought the entire cast did a great job. You will find yourself laughing from the first moment through the very last scene. I suspect some moviegoers (especially the ones who take themselves WAY too seriously) will be turned off by this brand of humor. Not me. The movie was a real surprise. And the entire theater was rolling with laughter throughout the showing I went to which makes me think that a lot of people enjoyed themselves and were happy to have a good time at the movies for a change. I cannot wait to see it again! If you're in the mood to LOL then this is for you. Funny funny funny funny!