Failure to Launch

I got to see a preview of this the other night . . I went in thinking this was just another silly romantic comedy, but I must say I laughed a bit and enjoyed some of the crude humor. The audience I sat with loved it and laughed often, so I think this will do well in the theater especially those that enjoy Mr. McConaughey's abs and southern charm. There's actually some great nature shots with Dolphins and other fun-loving creatures, but I won't go into detail since it would spoil some of the crude humor in this flick. I think this would make a great date film since most of the film is told from the male perspective, so it's not your typical female male basher. Zooey Deschannel has some great moments as well with her deadpan looks and offbeat charm. There's no Oscar worthy performances here, just a fun silly, offbeat romantic comedy with a little um-nudity from Mr. Bradshaw (no frontal of course).

I really thought that this was a decent movie. I don't think that the commercials showed all the good parts either. It had plenty of parts that made me laugh out loud. I mean it did have some parts that were dry, and it reminded me of a different version of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, but I still liked it. I think that my favorite character would have to have been Kit, who is the roommate of Sarah Jessica Parkers character. I think that perhaps the main characters did not have the most humorous lines as their costars did, but each star mixed well in the movie. I think that if you are one of those people who like to watch girly movies, as I am, then you would definitely enjoy it.

I thought this movie was fun. I'm a big fan of Terry Bradshaw and I thought he and Kathy Bates made a "real couple". His "nude room" scene was a scream - I would have never expected that. I also enjoyed the scene Kathy Bates expresses her fears about her marriage to her son and the reasons - a little touch of real life. But my favorite character has to be Kit (Zooey Deschanel). Every comedy movie needs a straight (man/woman) I loved her, she was great. In my opinion the depth of the secondary characters was the strength of this movie. I didn't particularly care for the ending. I look forward to seeing more of Zooey Deschanel - great job!

Why, oh, why, can Hollywood assemble such a fantastic cast, and fail the cast members so miserably with the script? Stay home and watch a "Friends" rerun and you'll probably witness a more coherent, funnier, and truer script.

Every actor in this cast, including Terry Bradshaw, a former football player, is fantastic.

In fact, why can Terry Bradshaw, a former football player, act better than professional Hollywood writers can write? This script is a mess. Scenes are short and borderline incoherent, or so dumb as to be targeted at an audience too young to care about romance. What's the point of putting goofy scenes, like the fake bird fake CPR scene, a scene that every seven year old in the audience will wake up for, in an alleged "romantic" comedy? There's no romance here. None. Zero. Zip. How do you put two such beautiful, sexy, charismatic actors -- Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker -- in a movie, and yet have absolutely zero romance or heat or sexual chemistry in the movie? I mean, you'd really have to be trying to make a movie this erotically neutered with two such stars.

Nothing here makes much of any sense at all. The scenes are a jumble of failed ideas quickly abandoned. The direction and editing are nil.

A few scenes are ridiculous and childish. Matthew McConaughey is repeatedly attacked by wild animals. These scenes just never take off.

A few scenes are painful.

MM takes SJP on a date on someone else's boat, pretending that it's his. He's caught, and has to run away. Is he supposed to be such a tacky character? Why is SJP supposed to fall in love with him? After MM discovers that his parents have been paying SJP to date him (this isn't a spoiler; this plot device is revealed early on), he uses a particularly crude word to tell her to go away. It's a believable reaction, but since everything else in the movie is so unbelievable, it's just awkward and does not fit.

Then there is the scene where one group of characters spies on another couple of characters via webcams. It's meant to be heartwarming, but it's just utterly unbelievable and really creepy. Whoever scripted this scene is tone deaf.

And a few scenes are just plain bizarre, as if they came from another movie.

This is such a shame. The actors were up for it, but the script writers and director gave them nothing to work with.

Another pre-McConaissance mediocre rom-com from ya boi Matty McConaughey. There's a smidgen of chemistry between him and Parker, but not nearly enough to keep this cliched, predictable film afloat (get it? because boats?). Deschannel is the MVP and by far the highlight of the film, though her random mockingbird side quest takes up a disturbing amount of time. This really is a great cast that just isn't given great material. The constant, over-the-top animal-biting scenes? WTF. It's some mild entertainment, but nothing to write home about.